


Grimm's Evolution

by Chaos65



Category: RWBY
Genre: Evolution System, F/M, Magic, Main Character is a Grimm, Video Game Mechanics, Worldbuilding, crossposted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:35:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 53,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28244781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaos65/pseuds/Chaos65
Summary: So I died because of someone else mistake. Not the best way to go, but at least now I can go to another universe and live my life as a Gamer. Now if someone could tell me why was I reborn as a Grimm? Gamer Grimm OC.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	1. Congratulations, you died

Did you ever wonder how you would die?

I did multiple times. Not to be a party pooper, but really I always thought that I would die of the old age or be one of the unfortunate people to die because of an incurable illness. Maybe not a too bright outlook on my life, but hey, I was always a little bit weird. My family made sure that I knew that... Not that they were ever malicious towards me.

Nah... I think that pointing out my weirdness was a running joke in my family. Still haven't managed to find out who started it.

Anyway, where was I?

Ah yes, how I would die?

Now I am quite a normal person (ignoring my weirdness), twenty years old university student. Lover of gaming, reading, and some anime. All in all your average person, who just wants to get by and live a peaceful life.

So, believe me, it was quite a surprise to be so lucky to have an entire scaffolding, about five-story tall, fall on you. Like come on, maybe I wasn't the best person out there, but to die like that?

I either pissed off some higher being or life just hates me. There was still so much I wanted to do and now it is the end. I feel like I should be at least a little bit depressed about that, but weirdly I am not. Maybe I just can't feel anything now?

No, that's not it. It must be another weird result of my death.

And that is not even the worst point of my current predicament.

Ever since I appeared here, I constantly feel like I am falling. Like really, if it wasn't that I couldn't even check the time, I would bet that I have been falling for at least a few hours.

I have never been too much of a religious guy, but if this is how you get to hell, then fuck you whoever decided on that method of transportation. And while I am not the one to tempt fate, I don't really think that my day could get any worse.

.

.

.

Huh, the falling stopped. I guess I arrived at wherever here is. For me, it was still the same pitch-black void and I couldn't really move myself to look around as I don't think that I currently have a body.

Oh well, guess I will be waiting for some mo-

**[Congratulations, you died]**

Wait, what?

Currently a blue, a bit transparent, square was floating before me. I mean I got congratulated a few times but some weird things but this is a new one even for me. You don't congratulate someone for dying, that is just wrong.

Is this some kind of joke?

**[No, due to your unfortunate death. The One Above decided to give you an apology gift.]**

The One Above? Unfortunate death? Gift? What do you mean, an explanation would be nice.

 **[Sigh... You see, you were not meant to die that day. Due to a small mistake on The One Above side, you died. So to apologize for this** **inconvenience you will be granted a gift.]**

So my death was just a small inconvenience? Geez, talk about being unimportant.

Alright, so what is the gift you are talking about... well writing.

**[You will be sent to another universe with a unique ability you are quite familiar with. There you will be able to live your life as you want.]**

Another universe? Man, I am starting to think that I am just sleeping and this is one of my weird dreams where I am a character in anime.

**[You are only wrong about the sleeping part. Now let me explain what will happen next.]**

What?! You are telling me that you will send me to some universe that I know of? Which it will be? And what about the unique ability you were talking about.

**[I do not have time for that, you will get your answers soon.]**

Damn, and here I thought that a blue square couldn't get annoyed. Well, there is the first time for everything. Alright so let's get started.

**[Good, now please choose your evolution path]**

**-Feline**

**-Draconic**

**-Snakelike**

**-Creature of the Sea**

**-Canine**

**-Wormlike**

Uhh, what? Evolution path? What kind fo universe would need me to choose something like that. Naruto is definitely out. Harry Potter is a maybe, but will I really become a magical creature then? Who knows.

Well, I have no clue, but I always loved dragons so draconic it is.

**[Draconic evolution path has been chosen.  
**

**Do you want to start a tutorial?**

**Reward:**

**\- Skill book**

**\- 100 EXP**

**\- 5 stat points**

**Yes/No?]**

Holy shit! Is that what I think it is? Did you just give me the gamer ability? Alright, I may still be mad about dying, but come on who wouldn't want to have a chance like this. Now if I could only get the information of what universe I will be sent to.

Without wasting any more time I clicked Yes. Maybe the tutorial will shine some light.

**[You have been granted the ability to live your life like a game.**

**You have gained two skills.**

**Please say or think 'skills' to continue.]**

'Skills'

And just like that, another transparent blue window appeared before me with the list of my current skills. Like I expected I had two of them and probably everyone already knows what they are.

**[Gamer's mind (Passive) lvl: Max**

**Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through, grants a peaceful state of mind. Immunity to mental attacks.]  
**

**[Gamer's body (Passive) lvl: Max**

**Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. After sleeping in a bed, it restores HP, MP, and cures all status effects.]**

Alright, the two most important skills were here. I wonder if anything from my only life could give me a skill. I shrugged or at least tried to as I still don't have a body. Well, it would be nice to continue, how do I d... Suddenly the window with my skills disappeared and another appeared. Okay, not need to scare me Game.

**[Now that you are done let me continue.**

**Skills can be gained using many ways. Reading a skill book, experimentation, or repeating a certain action. Still, you need to remember that not every skill can be learned if you don't have high enough stats for it.**

**To continue, say or think 'Inventory']**

'Inventory'

And just like in every RPG game out there I was met with another big blue window. This time it was divided into smaller squares. All in all, it didn't look like it had a limit and I was totally fine with that. There was also a money section on the bottom but it was quite empty.

**[This is your inventory screen. You can store things and pull them out whenever you want. You can also equip clothes and items right from the inventory without the need to change.**

**Better be thankful. A lot of people would love to have the ability to change instantly.**

**To proceed please think or stay 'Status']**

Damn right that I know a handful of people who would pay for ability like that. My sister would be one of them... shit, now that I think of it my family will soon find out that I died. Fuck. I will miss them and would probably feel bad about this whole ordeal if it wasn't for the Gamer's mind. It is already affecting me.

Well, I will have enough time to think about what I lost later. Now I should finish this tutorial if I don't want to piss off.. whoever you are, more.

**[For making a great decision and not pissing me off, your WIS increased by 1.**

**Now hurry up.]**

Okay, okay.

'Status' I thought to myself. This time another blue window appeared, but this one was a bit bigger and the moment I saw the second line I finally knew what the hell was going on.

**Name: Nameless  
**

**Race: Soul Grimm**

**Level: 1 (0/100)**

**Evolution Stage: Draconic 1 (0%)**

**Title: None**

**HP: 200**

**MP: 200 (locked)**

**STR: 5**

**VIT: 5**

**DEX: 5**

**INT: 5**

**WIS: 6**

**LUC: 5**

**Elemental Affinity:**

**SP: 5 |** **EP: 0**

**Lien: 0**

So I am a Grimm with... a soul? Alright, that does explain some things, but I still have no clue what the Evolution Stage means. The universe of RWBY or the world of Remnant. Shit, never would I have thought that I would become a fucking Grimm in one of the shows I watched. How is that even supposed to work?

I have a soul so I will be able to use aura and unlock a semblance, but can I do that as a Grimm? And even then I wonder if I can somehow obtain a human form. Being able to change between Grimm and Human form would be really useful and make my life much easier. Oh well, maybe the tutorial will explain my questions.

My stats are nothing special, but that is to be expected from a level one player. The one point of WIS that I gained earlier is already there and I have both 200 HP and MP. If this system works like the ones in some fanfiction I read, then 100 Hp is the base amount and you gain 50 per level plus 10 per every VIT point.

**[For figuring out how the system works your WIS and INT gained 1 point.]**

Okay, that's nice. The more points the better for me so I am not complaining. Now that I read the page once more can anybody tell me why I am nameless? I am gite sure that I had a name in my old life and the RWBY-verse follows the color theme of naming people. So shouldn't I get a name like that even if I am a Grimm? (Still not sure how I feel about that). When will I get a name, can I choose it by myself?

**[You can choose a name for yourself after you arrive in Remnant, but it will need to follow the color theme.]**

Ah, that's fair I guess. Anyway, what's next?

**[This is your status screen]**

No, shit sherlock.

**[Anyway... This screen contains all of the most important information that you will need during your new life. Think of any of those stats to get a further explanation of them.**

**Check the information on every important stat to continue.]**

Now that's what I was waiting for. Finally some information. Let's start with 'Race'.

**[Your current race. It can change throughout your life.**

**Your current race is Soul Grimm. You are the only one of the creatures of darkness to possess a soul. This enables you to use Aura(MP) and possess a semblance. Unfortunately, this also means that other Grimm, while they won't attack you, they also won't help you.]**

That is good to know. For a moment I feared that I would need to run from both humans and Grimms. Knowing that at least the latter won't hunt me makes my new life a lot easier. Also, the aura is MP, does that mean that I can't use magic? Let's check it out, 'MP'.

**[MP or aura as it was named by the population of Remnant, is used in most skills and spells.**

**Current MP regen: 1%/minute]**

Okay, so I should be able to use spells and create them. That's good as while the Dust is fun and all, I would prefer to use elemental attack by myself. Now that I think of it, how all of this will work if I am a Grimm. So many unanswered questions. I don't even know what I will look like. Anyway, 'HP'.

**[You health meter. It shows how much damage you can take after you lose your aura.**

**Current HP regen: 2%/minute]**

Nothing out ordinary there. Now to finally get my answers, 'Evolution Stage'.

**[Due to beginning your new life as a Grimm you unlocked access to the Evolution path (You permanent path: Draconic). You can treat it as your second level. You gain progress toward the next stage as you level up, train, complete missions, and fight different enemies.**

**Upon reaching 100% of your current stage you can evolve. You do this by spending the accumulated Evolution points on different upgrades to your Grimm form. Due to your Draconic path, most of those upgrades will be associated with Dragons.**

**For example, you will be able to gain better natural armor, additional limbs, change how you** **look or even add special abilities that you will be able to use in your Grimm form. You can also speed up your growth, but size can be gained naturally by leveling up.**

**You gain 1 Evolution point per 2 levels.]**

Huh, now that's an interesting system. I will be able to create my own look, but I am restricted to dragons due to my path. I can work with that. Now one point per 2 levels is not too much, but hopefully, I can gain them through quests and fighting.

Now the game is constantly mentioning form, does that means that I will be able to gain human form?

**[Everything is possible if you work for it.**

**Now proceed.]**

Alright, thank you for the information. Now let's get going.

**[INT - your intelligence. The more you have it the faster you learn, memorize, and think. Also, each point of INT raises your current MP by 10.]**

Just like I thought.

**[WIS - your wisdom. Your ability to make decisions and chose the best of available paths. Every 10 WIS increases your MP regen by 1%.]**

Like always INT and WIS are almost the most important stats if I want to use my MP without any problems. I will need to find more ways to train those stats. No, what that I am wasting my points.

**[STR- your strength, how strong you are. Pretty self-explanatory, don't you think? And no, STR does not affect how much you can carry in your inventory.]**

**[VIT - your vitality. How tough you are. If you don't want to get one-shotted then better invest some points in it. Also, every point of VIT increases your max HP by 10.]**

Nothing new, but it is good to know the math behind those numbers.

**[DEX - your dexterity. How agile you are. It also increases your attack and movement speed. It should be useful for dodging, not that I know anything about that. Besides that, this stat also helps with aiming ranged weapons or skills.]**

**[LUC - your luck, duh... It mostly affects your drops, but sometimes it can affect events.]**

So pretty much the usual.

All in all, besides the evolution stage there is nothing that I didn't know already. I might have spent too much time reading fanfictions. Meh, at least I will be able to use this knowledge for once. Now that I am done with my status screen, what's next Game?

**[The main part of the tutorial is finished. Do you have any questions? I might not be as merciful to answer them later.]**

Yeah, I have two questions. How will my Grimm form look like in the beginning and wherein the timeline will I appear?

**[You will find out after your deployment in Remnant.]**

Alright, and when that will happen?

**[Now.]**

What are you tal- Well shit, I am falling again. Fuck you Game.


	2. Where it all began

I am really beginning to think that everything that happened earlier was just a dream. Really it would be easier to believe if I wasn't falling. Again. After the Game decided to throw me wherever I am going now, I thought that it would be a moment and I would arrive in Remnant.

Of course, it didn't happen and here I am, falling down in the void. The gamer system is not working and I still don't have anything akin to a clock to check the time.

I am beginning to think that the Game is just taking revenge for annoying it. If that's the truth then I am sorry. Please just let me leave this void, I think that I am going mad and it shouldn't be possible with the gamer's mind.

I guess it didn't work... or never mind, I see a red light before me?

Wait, light? Why is it red?

And I just went through it and let me tell you it wasn't the nicest of experiences. I assume that whatever just happened gave me a body as I feel like a fucking elephant just sat on me.

Alright wherever I am, I feel a hard ground beneath me. Most likely rocks. Yea, that's probably it. Now I just need to open my eyes, get familiar with my new body and then I am all set.

Of course, it was easier said than done as whenever I tried to open my eyes, I felt like someone was trying to tear them out. And my body wasn't fairing any better. Whatever I am now, I feel so clumsy. I still have four limbs, at least that what those feel like. I really need to open my eyes and see what I became.

After what felt like a few minutes, I finally managed to crack one of my eyes open and see the world around me.

Let's just say that if I could move, I would run as fast as I could away from here. Why?

I was in a barren wasteland, with rocky terrain and where enormous purple crystals were sprouting from the ground. The sky was a dark red and Grimm spawned from the various numbers of pools.

Of course, I would start in the Land of Darkness. In the place from where all Grimm came from and where Salem resided. I was just thankful that I didn't see the Evernight Castle. I didn't need Salem on my ass just yet.

Of well it was high time to get the rest of my body moving. First I opened my second eye and I was surprised to be able to see in almost every direction besides my behind.

With that done I finally took a look at my body. Well... I at least tried to and let me tell you when I finally managed to turn and see downwards, my jaw would fall if I had one.

What I saw were two pitch-black, feather wings, a long feathered tail and instead of legs, I had talons. Shit.

I am a Nevermore. I don't know how to feel about this. I knew that I would become a Grimm, but I thought that I will get a badass dragon form, not that. Ah well, beggars can't be choosers, let's just hope that the Evolution system can give me what I want.

Wait... wasn't Nevermore supposed to have four eyes?

I quickly tried to open them but to no avail. Huh, weird. I definitely was something akin to Nevermore, but without the additional pair of eyes. OH, and I was small. like really small. Probably even smaller than a normal raven.

Alright, from what the Game told me, the Grimm won't attack me without any provocation from my side, so I am safe for now. Still, I need to get out of here as fast as I can. Like I said I don't want to meet Salem so early on. I just need to learn how to fly and then follow the packs of Grimm out of here.

Just when I wanted to start on getting familiar with my body I heard a ping and a blue window appeared before me.

**[Congratulations, you completed the tutorial.]**

**Rewards:**

**\- Skill book**

**\- 100 EXP**

**\- 5 stat points**

**[You gained a level.]**

Huh, I completely forgot about the tutorial. And I gained a level, that's nice. Now how to get rid of the blue box?

I spent another few minutes trying to stand up on my talons and I can proudly announce that moving with them was easier than I thought. Still, I am getting rid of them as fast as I can.

Next, I tried to open my wings and use them to swipe the message away. If someone saw me they would think that I was even more stupid than normal Grimm and perform a mercy kill. Really, I stopped counting how many times I fell down when I tried to control my wings. God, (or is it Gods now?) how even the birds move with those. Ah, well hopefully with enough practice I will be able to move and soon fly.

Finally, I managed to swipe the box away with my wing, but another appeared right after.

**[New quest acquired.]**

**Take to the skies and stop being useless. Really, you are a bird and can't fly. What a joke.**

**Rewards:**

**\- Skill book**

**\- 1 Evolution Point**

**-100 EXP**

**-5 stat points**

**Failure: You will be stuck in the Land of Darkness for the rest of your pitiful life.**

No need to be rude Game. Really what is it with the rude gaming systems. It is almost like it wants me to fail... Yeah, that's probably it.

**[For solving the mystery of the world you gained 1 WIS and INT]**

You know what? Fuck you Game. And here I thought that we were friends...

What no response? Oh, well time to get moving and think of a plan. First, I really need to learn how to fly. How hard can it be?

With that, I awkwardly moved to some more private place behind some crystals and began my first official training in this world. Of course, it wasn't as easy as I thought. Even with Gamer's body I still felt pain to some degree and exhaustion. It appeared that like with every limb, I needed to build up muscle memory with them so I could move them without any focus.

I can't imagine how weird it will get when I get the second pair of normal limbs. Even now I am having problems with moving my legs and wings at the same time. Thankfully the use of my tail is a lot easier and it helps a lot with maintaining a balance.

Finally after a tiresome few hours, or at least I thought it took me that long, I finally managed to move without any problems. I even gained one point in DEX and VIT. I still didn't try to fly, but before that, I wanted to check something.

'Inventory,' I thought to myself. The new window appeared before me and I quickly noticed the one lone item in it. I used my beak and clicked on it, in hopes to get it out.

Thankfully it did and now before me stood a small book. Good, it was time to get my first two skills. I stared at the book for at least ten minutes before I almost facepalmed.

I didn't have my MP unlocked so I couldn't create a skill that needed it.

**[Thanks to not being an idiot anymore you increased INT by 1.]**

Alright, I deserved that. So no 'Observe' for me, at least for now. I guess I will see what the skill book contains. I again tapped the book with my beak and waited for a notification.

**[You obtained a skill book. Do you want to use it?]**

**Yes/No**

I tapped the yes button and waited for another window.

**[Skill obtained!]**

**[Negativity absorption (Passive/Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**As the creature of Grimm, you are drawn to negative emotions. Thanks to the system you can now feed off them to gain experience. The more negativity the more EXP you get. You can only absorb negativity from creatures with a soul.**

**Passively absorbs negative emotions. Radius: 50 feet | EXP gained: 1 to 10 per hour**

**Active: Sense negative emotions around you. Radius: 1 mile | Cost: 10 MP/min]**

Holy shit! And here I thought that I will need to hunt wildlife to gain some EXP in the beginning. This skill should make everything easier even if the amount of EXP gained is very small. Hopefully, it gets better with the level. I will need to find some human settlement that doesn't have any strong defenses. I don't want to die because I was stupid.

Huh, another point of WIS. That's nice, even if I know that I am only getting them because it is the start of my new life. Still the more the better for me.

Anyway, it was time for me to learn how to fly!

I already can feel the pain...

* * *

**A few hours later**

Learning how to fly is not easy!

No, definitely no. At first, I thought that it will be like learning how to ride a bike. You know, try to move my body a few feet into the air and then slowly make my way up.

It didn't work like that. For the first few hours, I couldn't even get off the ground. It appears that flapping my wings randomly is not the way to fly. I only managed to fall multiple times. At least I gained something out of it.

**[Phycial Endurance (Passive) lvl: 3 (7%)**

**Your body becomes more durable and you take less damage from physical attacks.**

**3% decrease in damage taken by physical attacks.]**

Standard gamer skill that I almost forgot about. Anyway, after some practice, I finally managed to get myself a few feet in the air. Thankfully I was never scared of heights so when I lost control of my flight and pummeled towards the ground I was fine. Well mostly, I lost about 50 HP but it would regenerate in a few minutes.

From there it was a bit easier as I already knew the basics. So here I am standing on one of the crystals I managed to climb using my talons and clawed fingers on my wings. I decided that if I could fly from here to the nearest hill, then I should be fine, and hopefully, the quest would complete itself.

"Alright you can do this, just focus," yeah, I could talk. Don't ask me how that even works as I don't have a clue myself. I am just glad that I can, I might be a Grimm but taking my ability to talk away would be too much.

With a leap of faith, I spread my wings and began gaining in altitude. That was the easy part, now I needed to remain in control of my flight and move towards the designated target.

Again, it was easier said than done. I practiced my take-off more times than anything else, so my control was still average. I could stay mid-air for some time, but if I lose my focus for a moment or if a gust of wind hit me, I would crash land into the ground. One time I almost crashed into the pool and if it wasn't for the gamer's mind I would have probably died there.

I quickly threw those thoughts away and focused on my current situation. With another flap of my wings, I began moving forward.

It was going so good that when I heard a ping accompanied with the pop out of another blue box, I lost my control and crash-landed into the rocks below me. I really needed to work on my landing.

I groaned and pulled myself to my feet- or talons- I need to get rid of those pop-outs. They would kill me one day. Thankfully the game appeared to be at least a bit helpful and the previous box disappeared and another came into its place.

This one contained some options and I quickly found what I needed. I turned down the sound of pings a bit and disabled the pop-outs when in battle or other important situations.

With that done I returned to the previous notifications to see what I got.

**[Due to hours of training you increased your STR, VIT, and DEX by 1.]**

Thank you very much. Next!

**[Thanks to learning how to fly you created a skill]**

**[Flight Mastery (Passive) lvl: 1 (3%)**

**Let's you move in the air more easily. Your speed increases, every maneuver becomes easier and maybe, just maybe you won't fail the landing.**

**2% increase to movement speed when in the air**

**1% increase to DEX when in the air]**

Huh, I will be honest and say that I didn't expect this. And the bonuses on this thing are great. Well, maybe not that great, but still good. Fights in the air, traveling, and dodging will be a lot easier with this.

Now with the last notification.

**[Quest completed.]**

**You learned how to fly, mostly.**

**Rewards:**

**\- Skill book**

**\- 1 Evolution Point**

**-100 EXP**

**-5 stat points**

Great, another skill book for me. Hopefully, it will unlock my aura. I really don't want to go through that process myself. I am not even sure that I know how to do it.

With a sigh, I took out the skill book from my inventory and tapped it with my beak.

**[You obtained a skill book. Do you want to use it?]**

**Yes/No**

Again I clicked yes and waited for the book to disintegrate.

**[Skill obtained!]**

**[Feather Spears (Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**Fire spear-like feathers from your wings at your enemy. It is one of the basic abilities of a Nevermore.**

**-Cost: 5 HP per projectile**

**-Damage based on your STR**

**-It cannot penetrate even the weakest armor]**

Not what I wanted, but still nice. At least now I have something to defend myself with. It is interesting that the skill uses HP and not MP. Not that I am against it as who knows how long will it take me to unlock my aura. But still, does it use HP because it is a skill of a Grimm? Probably.

I decided to test it out so with a few flaps of my wings I was a few feet in the air. I noticed with no small amount of surprise that now that I have the skill of flight mastery, flying came to me a lot easier.

After I recovered from my surprise, I focused on the skill I wanted to use and aimed at the nearest rock. Then I flapped my wings a bit more forcefully and released ten small feathers in the rock's direction.

I missed a few of them, but the rest managed to hit the target. They didn't even leave a mark and I was a bit confused by this. Quickly I pulled out the description of the skill once more and read it carefully.

'It cannot penetrate even the weakest armor,' Alright not the best news. Hopefully, that will change as I level up the skill and become stronger. Now though I would like to rest a bit. I don't think that I need to sleep anymore, but I did a lot today and I deserve some time to relax.

With that, I took off into that air and searched for a spot that would grant me a semblance of safety.

I took me some time but I finally managed to find a small crack in the rocks where I could hide. I got as comfortable as I could inside and closed my eyes. Maybe it wasn't the best, but it would work for now. Tomorrow I will decide what to do next.

* * *

**[You have slept on uncomfortable ground. Your HP and MP has been restored by 20% and all negative status effects have been cured]**

Let it be known that never before in my life have I slept on rocks. Furthermore, I don't think that I will do it again. Really I thought that thanks to the gamer's body I wouldn't be able to feel pain from sleeping. Guess I was wrong.

Anyway, I don't know how long I have slept as the Land of Darkness doesn't have things like day and night. It makes me wonder how that even works but knowing that some time ago a god lived here, nothing is impossible.

Now that I am awake in my new bird body -I am still not sure how I feel about that- I should probably decide what to do next and isn't that the question of the year. When I arrived here yesterday, I didn't care what happened next. I was just too hyped to care, but now? What am I even supposed to do on Remnant?

Become the best Huntsman after I obtain my human form? No... well maybe someday to have some fun. Go to Beacon and meet the main cast? If I am in the right timeline then definitely, but there is no way in hell that I am going there as a student. It would restrict me too much.

Maybe I could just ignore everything and find some peaceful place to live the rest of my life in... Haha, yeah, there is no way that I am doing that.

The next problem on the list is Salem. If I arrived before canon or during it then she is still active and sooner or later she will find out about me. She rules the Grimm and I am one of them even if I don't plan to help her in any way. So yes, defeating Salem is one thing on the list to do, but it is not what I want to do in this new life of mine. I just want to get rid of her so I won't have an angry Witch Queen on my ass all the time.

Wait... I am a Grimm, so what if I became the strongest of them. What if I beat all of the ancient Grimm and create a legend of my own. When I watched the show, I always wanted to see more of the older Grimm like the Wyvern which attacked Beacon. And now I will be able to see them and kill them.

Yes, that could be fun. Become the strongest, the best. Maybe even take control of the Grimm away from Salem. And if the Brother Gods came back and didn't like what they saw, I just might have enough power to fight them. There is no way that I am dying again.

**[New Quest Obtained]**

**Become the strongest creature on Remnant and become a Legend.**

**Requirements:**

**-Defeat all of the Ancient Grimm**

**-Get rid of Salem**

**-Prepare for the eventual arrival of the Brother Gods**

**Rewards: A new Title, 10000000 EXP, Skill Book, 10 EP**

Huh, I was kinda expecting it after my decision. Now I just need to find out where in the timeline I am. But before that, there are still a few things that I need to do before I leave the Land of Darkness.

I stretched my body as I exited the small crack in the rocks. There are still two skills that I want to create before I leave and they should work without aura.

First I found an isolated place and tried to crouch as best as I could with my current legs. Then I waited in hopes that it would work. Finally, after some time I heard a ping. I quickly opened the new notification and read.

**[Even if it is not how you create that skill, I will give it to you. Just next time don't make and an idiot out of yourself and use your brain.]**

**[Stealth (Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**This is your ability to move undetected with, well, Stealth. It also covers your ability to perform actions unobserved or unnoticed.**

**2% smaller chances of getting detected when active. It can be nullified by a person with a higher level of stealth.**

**Cost: 50% reduced movement speed when active]**

Okay, that's awkward. Maybe I should have tried to sneak by some Grimm then. Ah, well I got what I wanted so who cares.

**[Me]**

No one asked you Game. Earlier you didn't even answer my question, so now it is my time to not care.

Anyway, that skill will be useful when I will need to get close to human settlements if I want to get some EXP from them. I will probably try to level it up later by keeping it active. I wonder how well it will work when I will be in the air. Another thing to test later on.

Now to create my second offensive ability. Hopefully, it doesn't need MP.

With that, I took off into the sky and observed my surrounding for an acceptable target. In the end, I decided upon a smaller crystal that in my opinion should get destroyed quite easily.

Even then I was a bit scared that I would take too much damage with my next action so I reduced the distance between me and the crystal before I rushed at it head-on.

I hit the crystal with my full speed and thankfully it shattered to pieces. I also lost almost half of my HP but it was fine as I heard another ping.

**[You created a new skill.]**

**[Charge (Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**Charge at the single enemy that's away from you. The bigger the distance the higher the damage. With leveling this skill you deal more damage at a smaller cost. The basic skill of a Nevermore.  
**

**Cost: The amount of MP or Hp used depends on the distance. Minimal cost: 10 MP/HP**

**\- Damage can be increased with STR, VIT, and INT]**

Alright, that's should be all. I would try to unlock my aura, but I don't feel too safe in the Land of Darkness. I will do it when I will find someplace to hide for a longer time. It is time to finally depart and find out where in the timeline I arrived. The question is where I should go. I don't really remember the date from the show so I need someone from the main cast if they are alive of course.

I could go to Beacon but that would be suicide even if I look a bit differently from a normal Nevermore. Oh I know, I can just fly to Patch and find Ruby and Yang. It should be easier to hide on the small island and if I level up my stealth before I arrive it should be able to do what I need.

**[New Quest Obtained]**

**Travel to Patch Island and find out where in the timeline you arrived. Be careful, even if it is a small island you can still be killed.**

**Rewards:**

**-1500 EXP**

**-1000 Lien**

**-1 EP**

**-5 stat points**

Thank you game. Now, do I have a minimap anywhere?

**[Minimap is not available in this location.]**

Okay, less helpful but I can manage. Anyway, I want to see my stats once again before I leave. I haven't checked it ever since the tutorial.

'Status.'

**Name: Nameless  
**

**Race: Soul Grimm**

**Title: None**

**Level: 2 (100/200)**

**Evolution Stage: Draconic 1 (64%)**

**Title: None**

**HP: 270  
**

**MP: 280 (locked)  
**

**STR: 6  
**

**VIT: 7  
**

**DEX: 7  
**

**INT: 8  
**

**WIS: 9  
**

**LUC: 5**

**Elemental Affinity:**

**SP: 20 |** **EP: 2  
**

**Lien: 0**

Not bad for a start. I really need to think of a new name for myself. It is weird to not have one. Apart from that everything looks alright and I am already near my first evolution. I wonder how that will work.

I sighed and closed the window, just when I wanted to begin my journey I saw the destroyed pieces of the crystal. I shrugged or at least tried to and put the pieces into my inventory. Who knows, maybe they are useful for something.

With a last look around me, I took off into the sky and began flying. After a few minutes, I stopped and groaned, "Shit, I don't know where to go."


	3. Far from home

You know what? My discovery that I didn't have a clue where to go, hasn't helped me one bit. Let it be known that I was never big on making plans. Nah, I always preferred to go with the flow, and if a problem came my way I would deal with it head-on. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't.

Going back to my problem, I really didn't know how to get out of the Land of Darkness. I was a Grimm, shouldn't I have been able to leave like every other creature? And yes, I saw plenty of Grimm just disappear without any sign. When I tried to go to the spots in which they disappeared, nothing happened. It seemed like I was going in circles.

Was it because I had a soul?

Who knows.

Apart from that, during my travels around the Land of Darkness, I came across the one place I wanted to stay the hell away from.

The home of Salem. The big ass castle where the main antagonist of RWBY lived. Yes, it was quite beautiful and if it weren't for the fact that I was scared to death, I might have stayed and admired it. Of course, I didn't do that. I hightailed it the hell away from there as fast as I could. Let me tell you that I had never flown that fast before, and I also had stealth activated.

Just from this small escape, I gained two levels towards flight mastery, now it was sitting at level five. Very good progress, even if I had no plans of getting close to that castle again. I really hope that Salem doesn't care about one small Nevermore. I can live without her on my ass for at least the next few years, thank you very much.

Never mind that though, it was finally time for me to find a way to leave this godforsaken place. Flying in one direction didn't work, and following the other Grimm just left me with a headache. So this time I wasn't planning on following them. No, this time I was getting a free ride out of here.

**[New Quest Obtained]**

**Get a ride out of the Land of Darkness upon another Grimm's back. Stupid plan, but it might just work.**

**Time limit: 5 days**

**Rewards:**

**-1000 EXP**

**-Skill book**

**-100 Lien**

**-3 INT and WIS so you won't think of such a stupid plan again**

**Failure: Possible death, Salem might capture you.**

**YES/NO**

**Warning: Even if you don't accept this quest, you will need to get out of the Land of Darkness within 5 days.**

Ohh... So it was doable, and I have a time limit. That was all the encouragement I needed. If there was a quest for this, then that meant that my plan could succeed.

I quickly tapped 'YES' and decided this time to plan ahead. I wasn't stupid enough to gamble with my life.

**[I think the Quest you gained speaks for itself.]**

.

.

.

Fuck you Game. Again. Besides, if you have any better ideas, I'm all ears.

Nothing? That's what I thought. Now leave me the hell alone and let me work. I have a lot of preparations ahead of me, and I don't need your sass. That being said, I pulled up my skill window and looked at one of the skills I would need to use if I wanted to succeed.

**[Stealth (Active) lvl: 3 (23%)**

**This is your ability to move undetected with, well, Stealth. It also covers your ability to perform actions unnoticed.**

**6% smaller chance of getting detected while active. It can be nullified by a person with a higher level of stealth.**

**Cost: 49% reduced movement speed when active]**

If I could level this skill up enough for me to be able to sit on a newly spawned Grimm's back without it noticing, then this should be easy. The question was, would a single stealth skill be enough? If I had some kind of skill that masked my presence this would be a lot easier, but that kind of ability probably required MP. I could try and unlock it, but with the time limit, it would be a risk.

I'll need to run some tests. I needed to check how the Grimm would react to me in close quarters, and how close I needed to be for 'Stealth' to fail. Then I can level up the skill until I'm able to hitch a ride with a pack of weaker Grimm.

Yeah, that should work. Hopefully.

**[For coming up with a surprisingly good plan you gained 1 INT and WIS.]**

Now you're agreeing with me? Oh well, I won't complain about the free stats, so whatever. Hopefully, the additional INT and WIS will help me with any further plans. Now I just needed to find some Boarbatusks or Creeps and begin my tests in earnest.

I would try it with other Nevermore, but all of the newly spawned ones are too small to carry me, and I'm not suicidal enough to approach the bigger ones. Aside from that, I can at least escape from Boarbatusks and Creeps by taking to the skies, while a Nevermore could still hunt me down and kill me.

So with my plan ready, I departed my hiding place in search of my first test subjects. Gods, I sounded like some evil scientist. Ah well, it's not like anyone can hear my thoughts anyway.

**[I can.]**

...

I don't care.

* * *

Finding a lone Boarbatusk or Creep was harder than I thought. Don't get me wrong, the Land of Darkness was infested with the creatures of Grimm, but most of them stay in packs. At least those ones I didn't fear. There were some types of Grimm I'd never heard about that stayed alone, but those were either too big or looked too dangerous.

Man, 'Observe' would be really nice right about now. Even the knowledge of their levels and HP would be enough to guess who I can and can't approach. I really hate whoever left me with my MP locked.

**[Surprisingly, it was my Creator's idea, not mine. A pity.]**

I hate you too.

Anyway, I finally managed to find two small Boarbatusks that just emerged from the pools. It took me exactly two hours. Thankfully, I could count time now because of the quest timer.

With my test subjects ready, I landed about fifty feet away from them and began my slow approach. For now, I decided not to use the 'Stealth' skill to see how close I could get without it. At first, the Grimm didn't care about me, but when I was about twenty feet away, they turned to look at me with their four red eyes.

I stopped dead in my tracks, waiting for the Boarbatusks to do something. One minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes... nothing. Weird.

They just stood there - frozen - and watched me like I was a piece of meat. I shuddered slightly at the thought and decided to try my luck. Again, I began to slowly move forward. When I got another five feet closer, the Boarbatusks finally moved.

They both released something akin to a growl and began to run at me. Fortunately, I was prepared and flapped my wings to escape the attack. The young Boarbatusks stopped when they saw me in the air, and after a while, they lost interest and walked away.

"So fifteen feet is the limit without using my skill..." I grumbled as I landed some distance away from the boar-like creatures.

The result wasn't bad, just a tad disappointing. I expected to be able to get a bit closer. Hopefully, with 'Stealth', I would be able to get at least five feet closer. Not that I believed it would happen though. Six percent was not much after all, but who knew how that really worked.

With a sigh, I activated the skill and began my approach. This time the Grimm only noticed me when I was about sixteen to seventeen feet away. Once again, they didn't do anything apart from watching me. It was a bit creepy if you asked me.

Anyway, I managed to move another three or four feet before the Boarbatusks attacked me again. I dodged without a problem and decided to have some fun. First, I pulled out my base stats to see how much HP I had.

**HP: 270**

**HP regen: 5.4/min**

Alright, so I can test a few things. I looked around to see if there were any Grimm that could attack me, and luckily there weren't. I lowered my altitude a bit and fired five feathers at one of the boars.

I tried to aim at the spots where I couldn't see any armor, but I still wasn't sure if it would pierce its hide. Surprisingly, three of my feathers did just that. I thought that you could only defeat these things by hitting them in the underside. Huh, maybe they're just too young and their armor isn't that strong yet. You learn something new every day I guess.

Even though the feather pierced the Boarbatusk's hide I don't think it did any damage. Just looking at the creature, I can tell that I'd only made it angry. Thank anybody that's listening that the boars can't reach me here. Now, to lead the lone boar away from its companion so I can run a few more tests.

It was easier than I thought, as the only Boarbatusk that followed me was the one I attacked. The other one didn't seem to care. Either it was too stupid to understand what was happening, or it simply didn't care.

Either way, I got what I wanted, and now it is time to have some fun. First, I flew high into the air, and when I saw the boar stop, I dived down. It was the first time I was doing something like this, but hopefully, it would work.

I positioned myself so I could get a clear shot at the boar's side and prepared my talons. Just as I was about to crash into the Boarbatusk, I pulled up, and used my talons to grab the boar.

In hindsight, I should have known that I didn't have enough strength to pick it up. Still, it was funny how instead of knocking the Grimm down, I got launched about fifty feet away when I lost my grip on the Boarbatusk's hide.

It was a bit less funny when the Grimm tried to finish me off with its rolling attack. It was a bit weird seeing it in real-life, and not in the animations I'd watched. Still, the attack looked awesome. I wondered how the lightning breath from the Sea Feilong would look. And even better, how my own attacks would look from an outside perspective.

Damn, for now though, it would be better if I focused on the pissed off boar that was still following me. It was like the Grimm always knew where I was.

I stopped midair and watched as the Boarbatusk did the same beneath me. Really, what did I need to do to make it leave? Fortunately, any other Grimm that saw the weird chase didn't care, so that's a plus. Now, how to defeat this little pig.

I could try my previous plan again, and try to knock it down, but we all know how well that worked. My health has already regenerated, so I could try to kill it with my feathers. I just needed my aim to be on point. Heh, easier said than done.

I flew a little lower and fired four feathers at the Grimm. Again, two of the feathers managed to stick into the boar. I was pleasantly surprised this time when I heard the Grimm release a squeal of pain.

Good, it was in pain, so I could probably kill it.

I repeated my previous actions until the Grimm began to run away from me. It probably realized that it couldn't harm me when I was in the air. Still, I spent about half of my health on it, and I'm not stopping now.

There was no way for me to kill the Grimm if it didn't stop. I could hardly hit it when it stood in one place, but now. Nope, no chance. Not with the amount of practice I had. So for now I decided to follow the Boarbatusk and see if it would tire and stop anytime soon.

It did after another fifteen minutes. I didn't know if the wounds I inflicted on it were that severe, but the Grimm just collapsed. From there, I just threw another bunch of feathers at it and hoped that it would die.

Thankfully, after a moment, I saw the Grimm disintegrate and before a notification appeared before me.

**[You killed Freshly Spawned Boarbatusk lvl. 1]**

**[You gained 50 EXP]**

All that work for 50 EXP?!

Fuck.

I wasted nearly an hour for 50 EXP, and the Grimm didn't even leave any loot. And it was level one? What the hell? Well, at least the 'Feather Spears' skill leveled up two times. Let's see if it changed.

**[Feather Spears (Active) lvl: 3 (2%)**

**Fire spear-like feathers from your wings at your enemy. It is one of the basic abilities of a Nevermore.**

**-Cost: 5 HP per projectile**

**-Damage based on your STR**

**-10% Chance to penetrate weak armor]**

Okay, the chance to penetrate armor was very good. I'm just curious as to what exactly counts as weak armor. Maybe when I have 'Observe' I'll be able to see how heavily armored my enemies are. Well, another thing to find out when I finally unlock my aura...

The list is getting bigger and bigger.

Oh well, I had my fun. Now it was time to focus on my stealth training.

* * *

After four days of straight-up stealth training, I managed to get it to level 26. Let me tell you, those four days were some of the most boring moments of my whole life, the old one and the new one. I literally spent about 96 hours sneaking around different types of Grimm. If my life didn't depend on this skill, I would never have done such a thing. But hey, at least the skill now has some nice effects.

**[Stealth (Active) lvl: 26 (0%)**

**This is your ability to move undetected with, well, Stealth. It also covers your ability to perform actions unobserved or unnoticed.**

**54% smaller chances of getting detected when active. It can be nullified by a person with a higher level of stealth.**

**lvl 25 bonus: If you stay still for 10 seconds, the stealth effect is 25% stronger. Or you can double the cost for the same effect.**

**Cost: 37% reduced movement speed when active]**

A neat bonus, let me tell you. While the first option wasn't too useful, the second one was much better. With it, I could sacrifice more of my movement speed and get the same bonus. I tested it already, and with the bonus activated, I managed to land on the back of a freshly spawned Creep without it noticing me. The Grimm knew that something was wrong, but couldn't find out what it was.

It was funny to see the Grimm confused.

Thankfully, with the amount of walking and flying I did, I also gained a few levels in 'Flight mastery' along with some stat points. Mostly vitality and dexterity, but somehow I also gained one point in strength. Intelligence and wisdom only gained one point each, and that was only because I did some deep thinking when I was bored. I think the Game got even more annoyed with me after some of the things I thought about.

Not that it changed anything, the Game was still rude and sassy towards me. I didn't mind it now, I preferred to have bad company than be alone. Maybe I should be a bit nicer so it would talk to me more?

Nah, where was the fun in that?

Anyway, with my grind complete, I hoped that now I could just find a pack of weaker Grimm, and hitch a ride out of the Land of Darkness. The lack of a day and night cycle was beginning to piss me off.

With that said, I left my previous place of grinding - a big area with almost nothing in it apart from multiple packs of Beowolves - and began my search for traveling Grimm.

From my previous observations, the Grimm stayed in the Land of Darkness for a few days, then left in packs if they were one of the weaker types. The stronger ones came and went as they pleased. I didn't know why they even came back here, but it probably had something to do with Salem. Or maybe there was something here that I didn't know of.

Meh, I just wanted to get the hell away from here.

Lucky me that not even after five minutes of searching, I found a pack of seven small Boarbatusks walking in the direction of an area where I'd seen some of the previous Grimm disappear in.

I quickly activated 'Stealth', and mounted the back of the last Grimm. It stopped for a moment, but when it couldn't detect anything amiss, it began walking forward again. I sat there for another few minutes before the world around me started to change. Instead of the red sky, purple crystals, and Pools of Grimm, I saw a normal blue sky, and a rocky terrain. Only this time with broken trees, and no crystals

I looked behind me, and saw that there was no sign of the Land of Darkness anywhere.

Hearing a ping, I confusedly made it appear before me and read.

**[You just passed an illusion barrier and left the Land of Darkness. Minimap and map are now available to you.]**

**[Quest Completed!]**

**Get a ride out of the Land of Darkness upon other Grimm's back. Stupid plan, but it might just work.**

**Rewards:**

**-1000 EXP**

**-Skill book**

**-100 Lien**

**-3 INT and WIS so you won't think of such a stupid plan again**

**[You leveled up thrice.]**

**[Your evolution meter is full. You have gained access to the Evolution menu. You can evolve now, or wait and gather more evolution points.]**

Three levels, I forgot that this quest gave me so much EXP. I could evolve now too. I needed to see what was in this evolution menu. Unfortunately, all of this would need to wait, as I was still currently riding on the Boarbatusk's back. It was time to spread my wings and find out where in Remnant I was.

With that, I flew up into the air and onto the nearest broken tree. I needed time to check all of these new things I gained. After I landed on one of the bigger trees, I first opened my inventory to check what kind of skill book I had obtained.

**[You are unable to learn this skill. You need to unlock your MP to do that.]**

That's disappointing, but not unexpected. Really, how many skills can the Game give me that don't cost aura?

Shaking my head, I put the book back into my inventory and decided to see if the map could tell me anything. It didn't. Most of the map was gray, and it looked like I needed to explore all of the world by myself, or find a way to update this map with one I could find later. Not the news I wanted to hear, but it could be worse.

Meh, let's see what the deal with this evolution thing was.

'Evolution menu'

**[Welcome to the Evolution menu. Here, you can find any evolution available to you in the current stage. Don't worry, you can prolong your evolution as long as you want. Beware, that when you decide to evolve to the next stage, it is recommended to find a safe place. The evolution can take up to ten hours and it will be easier to harm you during this time.]**

**Your EP: 3**

**Current Stage: Draconic 1 (100%)**

**Evolutions available to you:**

**-Dragon Grimm | Cost: 1 EP**

**Take your first step towards becoming the strongest of the Grimm and unlock your full potential.**

**Passively increases all stats except LUC by 5%**

**Additional 10% to Max HP**

**Unlock the rest of the evolutions**

**\- Armor (Weak) | Cost: 1 EP**

**Upgrade your skin, hide, or scales to withstand attacks from low-quality melee weapons and weak guns. Don't get your hopes up, you are still paper for anyone with a brain. This evolution can be upgraded further.**

**\- Dragon's body | Cost: 1 EP**

**Transform your body into that of a dragon. You can choose between different types, and then modify them to a small extent.**

**\- Dragonskin | Cost: 1 EP**

**Exchange your current skin for that of a dragon.**

**10% less damage taken from all sources**

**\- Predator's Eyes | Cost: 1 EP**

**Grants better vision, and the ability to see in the dark. This Evolution can be upgraded further.**

**\- Scales and Spikes | Cost: 1 EP**

**Exchange your feathers for scales and spikes. Really, why do you still have them?**

**5% less damage taken from all sources**

**New skills available**

**\- Faster growth | Cost: 1 EP**

**You grow a bit faster. This evolution can be upgraded further.**

**10% faster growth speed**

**\- Second pair of limbs | Cost: 2 EP**

**Gain your second pair of limbs (not including wings) and become a true Western Dragon.**

Alright, color me impressed. Even for the first stage, there was a lot to choose from. Unfortunately for now, I only have three points. I knew that I would get another one for getting to Patch, and one more for leveling up. I only needed to complete my main quest, and I would have another two points to spend. With what I saw on the list, it should be enough for the first stage of evolution.

I wonder what kind of evolutions I would be able to get next. For now though, I needed to find my way to Patch and see where in the timeline I was. Maybe I should try to unlock my aura before that? An additional defense would be really useful during my travels.

I guess I could find a quiet place and try to unlock it by myself. I really shouldn't rush into things now that I was finally free of that twisted land.

Yeah, I should at least try to unlock it and get some rest. Yeah, yeah, I know that I didn't need to sleep.

* * *

Back in the Land of Darkness, Salem, the master of Grimm and the immortal witch, smiled as she felt the Nevermore with a soul leave her realm.

Never before in her long life, has she happened upon something so interesting. She might be the current master of the Grimm, but they were originally created by the God of Darkness. He crafted them without souls, and even she couldn't change that.

Yes, she could form Grimm with her magic, but to give them a soul wasn't possible. To do that she would need the Relic of Creation, and even then Salem wouldn't waste its power for such a trivial matter.

She also discovered that she couldn't see through its eyes, or even attempt to control it. Maybe this was due to its possession of a soul? Salem wasn't sure, but that would be remedied with time.

The Queen was tempted to take the new Grimm to her castle and see how it would act. But through the eyes of the other Grimm she saw how the two-eyed Nevermore acted like an intelligent being. She speculated that this was because of its soul, but she deigned to leave it alone and observe the curious creature.

Even more interesting was the scene in which it killed a young Boarbatusk. None of the Grimm in the Land of Darkness fought each other, as their instincts warned them that she would not permit such actions within her realm.

After that little event, Salem definitely wanted to discover more about this little soul. She felt it grow stronger during the five days it lived in the Land of Darkness. It would be so easy to just snatch it from the sky and cage it within her castle.

In the end though, Salem decided against it, mostly due to the fact that the moment the Nevermore came close to her castle, it escaped as far as it could. She would admit that it was the first time in many years that she was left surprised.

The Nevermore somehow knew what lurked inside of the castle, and it feared her. That was good, if it feared her, then it would be easier to control. Any weapon would be useful in her future plans.

After that, the little soul somehow managed to get through her barrier that hid the Land of Darkness. It was something she created long ago after Ozma had betrayed her.

It was not only an illusion, but it also served as a sensory barrier. It only detected creatures who were alive and had a soul, so she wouldn't get overwhelmed by the feedback when her Grimm passed through it. Of course, there was no way for anybody who didn't possess magic or wasn't invited to pass through the barrier. But it did serve to alert her when one of her subordinates arrived or departed her realm.

For now the Nevermore may have escaped, but Salem was patient. She would wait for it to become stronger, and then put it under her control.

She simply needed to wait.


	4. Evolution

You know what? While getting out of the Land of Darkness was nice, I still had no clue where to go. I'd been flying for a few hours already and I still couldn't find any place that could tell me where I was. If I had to describe the space around me I would use one word.

Wasteland.

It was dry, destroyed and almost nothing grew here. The only interesting things here were the groups of Grimm that passed by me from time to time. Really, how long did I need to fly to even find some water?

At least then I would know that I was going in the right direction. If I could find a seashore, it would be even better. I need to discover where in the Remnant I was so I could make my way towards Patch Island.

Anyway, I should probably find a safe spot to rest and try to unlock my aura. At least I would have something to train during my travels if it was active. I really wanted some of the skills that were only available with MP. Observe and some offensive magic skills were just a few that came to mind. I also needed to find out if I could have a semblance in my Grimm form, or if I needed to be a human for that.

_Game? Maybe you could answer that?_

**[Semblances are unique to every person. While it is possible to use it in both forms, one of them will be able to utilize it better. It mostly depends on what you will get as a Semblance]**

Alright, that cleared some things up.

_Now could you tell me how to unlock it? In the show, the awakening process was never really explained. I know that a stressful situation can help you unlock it, but apart from that, I've no clue._

**[Thanks to the game system, you can unlock your Semblance using more than one process. Some of them will simply take longer than others.]**

Well, that didn't really help me, but at least now I knew I could unlock it without bigger problems.

_Thanks for the help. See that wasn't so hard._

**[Don't think that I'm going to be nice to you all of a sudden. You're way too annoying for that.]**

"Love you too," I chirped. Even if the Game irritated me from time to time, it was still nice to have someone to talk to.

Getting back on track, what did I want to do now? Oh yes, a place to rest and try to unlock my aura. I saw some bigger rocks in the distance, so I might be able to find a spot there where nothing would bother me.

Thankfully, there was a small space between the rocks where I could rest for the time being. It even had some dry grass growing, so it was a bit more comfortable when I went to sit down. I still couldn't get used to the weird feeling of sitting in the body of a bird.

Oh well, a few more days and hopefully I would be able to evolve and gain a dragon body. I just hope that it'll be easier to move in.

Now, how to unlock my aura... Maybe meditation?

Well, not like I had any better ideas. I never really tried to meditate in my last life, so I wouldn't know how to do it now. Still, maybe if I did what every other fanfiction character did in my situation, then it might work? That was a pretty optimistic way of thinking, but it was all I had.

So with that in mind, I tried to remember everything I knew about meditation, fact or fiction. The obvious thing was to relax my body, and calm my breathing. It was a lot easier to do as Gamer's mind was showing its usefulness. The next step would be to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state of mind?

Yeah, something like that. The latter was thankfully provided by Gamer's mind

Now the former was a bit harder as there was always something going through my mind, and not even the Gamer's mind would help there.

_Well, I have plenty of time. So meditation here I come… Yay._

...

...

...

"Oh for fuck sake, why is it so hard? Every other gamer in fanfiction just sat down once and got the skill within a minute. Why is it not working for me!?" I whined a bit. Hey, don't judge me, I never was the most patient person.

Still, I would need to try it again. If it didn't work within the next few hours, then either I was doing something wrong or the skill just didn't exist. I really hope that it was the former because meditation always gave some neat bonuses.

* * *

**[You created a new skill.]**

**[Meditation (Passive/Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**Know your body and mind. An ancient technique used to relax your body and mind, and discover inner peace. Use this skill to truly understand yourself and increase your own abilities.**

**-Passively increases INT and WIS by 5%**

**-When active, you can meditate to recover your MP and HP at a higher rate**

**-When active, MP and HP recovery rate increased to 10%/min]**

"Yes, finally!" I shouted in glee.

It was already dark, but I finally did it. And the bonuses on this skill were so good. I wonder how much they would increase upon leveling it up. It would be nice if there was a skill that took care of the physical stats, but I couldn't think of any. Oh well, something to think about later.

Now that the meditation skill was available to me, I understood it a bit better. It was a bit weird being able to automatically understand things when I had a skill relating to specific actions. Not that I was complaining, any additional knowledge was welcomed with open arms.

With this new skill, I should be able to unlock my aura... probably.

Well, it wasn't like I didn't have time. I still needed to find my way to Patch and I doubt that would happen anytime soon. For now though I _should_ probably go to sleep and move out tomorrow, but I didn't feel like wasting more time when I could spend it training my abilities and becoming stronger.

With that in mind, I got comfortable and focused on entering a meditative state. Thankfully, I could enter it with my HP and MP full, it would be a bit problematic otherwise. Hmm, maybe I should fire my feather spears and then meditate.

**[For coming up with a good idea (which should've been obvious) your WIS has increased by 1.]**

_Ye, ye, laugh it up. At least I can blame my lack of intelligence and wisdom on my stats. We'll see how that changes in due time._

...

…

...

_What, no answer?_

And here I thought we were getting somewhere. Meh, no reaction whatsoever. Now it was time for the grind.

* * *

**The next day**

My grinding came to an end when I saw the shining sun on the horizon. It was a nice sight to see after being contained in the Land of Darkness for a few days. Still, during the night I managed to get three levels in meditation, but I didn't come any closer to unlocking my aura. This was expected so I wasn't mad, just a tad disappointed.

Apart from the meditation, I spammed my feather spears a lot, and to my surprise the skill gained some nice effects.

[ **Feather Spears (Active) lvl: 11 (53%)**

**Fire spear-like feathers from your wings at your enemy. It is one of the basic abilities of a Nevermore.**

**-Cost: 5 HP per projectile (1% chance to not consume HP)**

**-Damage based on your STR x1.1**

**-5% chance to inflict bleeding (5 DMG/sec for 10 seconds)**

**-30% chance to penetrate weak armor]**

I never thought that such a basic skill would slowly evolve into something more powerful. While the chance to not consume HP was small, it was still there. Even ten percent on that would be overpowered later on. Then there was the bleeding effect. Again, only five percent, but hopefully later on the chances would become higher.

The only thing I was a bit miffed about was the penetration chance. If level eleven only gave you a thirty percent chance, then when would I be able to get through something stronger?

Then again, I gained eight levels in the skill overnight, so maybe it was just that easy to level up. Apart from that, I had no complaints. With this skill leveled up, I could probably take on a small group of freshly spawned, land based Grimm, and win. Now if I had 'observe' I would do just that, but guess what?

_My Mp is still blocked..._

**[Oh stop whining and get your ass moving. You'll unlock it sooner or later.]**

"Well forgive me for wanting it to happen sooner rather than later," I answered, annoyed. I was the one at risk of dying here without my MP unlocked, not the Game.

Shaking my head, I flew into the air and continued my search for a way out of this wasteland. From time to time I saw some small animals that could survive in such a climate, so I decided to use them as target practice. I was still a bit surprised that I didn't gain a skill for throwing projectiles.

They only gave me minuscule amounts of EXP, and left some meat as loot. But EXP was EXP so I wasn't complaining. I tried to see if I could gain EXP from animals through 'Negativity Absorption', but it didn't work. I didn't know whether I just couldn't absorb it from them, or if there was another reason.

During my flight, I also couldn't help but wonder what continent I was on. Well, Solitas was definitely out. There was no snow here, and the Kingdom of Atlas was completely covered in it. Menagerie was also out, the continent was too small. If I _was_ there, I would have already found something. I was quite fast in the air.

Not even close to the speed of planes in my old world but still, I didn't think that Menagerie could be any bigger than, for example, Australia. That was another thing to think of. How big was Remnant compared to Earth?

In the show, it was never really a subject anybody cared for. But now that I was here, I would need to know how long my travels would take. I just hope that it wouldn't take me months to travel from one continent to another.

_Oh I know, Game! Some help would be nice._

**[And why should I tell you? Seeing you struggle is my only entertainment.]**

I should have expected that response.

_Still, maybe you can at least tell me if Remnant's size is somehow comparable to Earth. A simple yes or no will be enough._

**[...Yes.]**

_Thank you. One less mystery to solve._

Alright, where was I? Oh yes, which continent was I on? Sanus was probably also out as it was the most populated continent on Remnant, and I didn't believe that I was so unlucky as to not find any humans. And even if I was that unlucky, I doubt that I wouldn't find anything other than this wasteland. It was just too big, and I saw the map of Remnant enough times on the internet to know that a wasteland like this didn't exist on Sanus.

That, or I was very far into the future or past, and the continents now look different than they did in the canon. Yeah, let's hope not.

So Anima and the weird dragon continent were the only two left. While I could be in the Kingdom of Mistral, again I doubted it for the same reasons as I did Sanus. So I was left with the dragon-shaped continent.

Not surprising. The show never told us anything about it, so it might as well be the place where Salem lived. While the continent wasn't the largest one, it was still quite big, so it could take me a day or two before I reach the seashore. The continent of Sanus was on the southeastern side of it. So if I used my very limited navigation skills, then I should be able to find my way to either Vacuo or Vale.

Using the sun's current location I found the south-eastern direction and began flying that way. I really should have thought about it sooner...

* * *

**A few days later**

I did it! I fucking did it! I found the seashore and now I was absolutely sure that I was on the dragon continent. I spent the last day flying along the seashore to figure out my approximate location on the continent. If my calculations were right then I was somewhere on the southern side of it. Now here was the big problem.

From what I remembered, the sea that separates Sanus and the dragon continent was quite large. With my current speed, it would probably take me a day or two – maybe more – of continuous flying to get to the other shore. The question was, would I get tired during the flight?

I never really felt tired thanks to gamer's body, but was there a limit to how long I could go without rest? I wasn't keen on finding out mid-flight, so either I found a place where the pass was shorter, or I could test how long it would take until I got tired.

Yeah, I was going with the latter option. But before that, I was finally going to unlock my aura.

These past few days, I've spent a lot of time meditating. Currently, I was at level nine, and hopefully with level ten I would be able to unlock my MP. The more I leveled the skill, the better I could feel the energy inside me, so it should be possible.

Later that day, I sat upon one of the broken branches trying to focus on the energy and release it. Finally, after another hour or two of meditation, I heard the sound of a notification, and at the same moment I felt new energy flowing through me.

**[Congratulations, you unlocked your Aura/MP.]**

**[You gained a new skill.]**

**[Aura (Passive/Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**The manifestation of your soul. Aura can be used for a wide range of abilities. When active, it creates a force field to protect you from harm.**

**-Passively increases all stats except for LUC by 20%**

**-When active your stats are increased by an additional 10% and your MP can be used as a health bar**

**-Cost: MP regeneration disabled until deactivation]**

Thank, God. I didn't even train any other skills during that because I wanted to finally unlock this shit. Now, the skill was something beautiful, twenty percent of a boost to my stats... damn.

Alright, so with my Aura unlocked I could finally use the skill book I had in my inventory and create 'observe'. I went to do just that, and brought out the skill book before me. Then I tried to look at it while using MP and – here we go.

**[Skill Book (Rare)**

**A simple skill book, what are you waiting for? Use it.]**

**[You created a new skill.]**

**[Observe (Active) lvl: 1 (7%)**

**The higher the level, the more information you get. I won't explain anymore, you're not _that_ stupid.**

**-Cost 10MP per use]**

Finally. Now for the skill book.

**[You obtained a skill book. Do you want to use it?]**

**Yes/No**

This time, after I clicked 'yes' nothing stopped me, and the book disappeared soon after.

**[Skill obtained!]**

**[Presence Masking (Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**Hide your power from others. With this skill, you can hide some of your power so no one would be able to sense it. Good for stealth or tricking your enemy**

**-Maximum power hidden: 10%**

**-Cost: 20 MP/min]**

Okay, another useful skill for when I want to get closer to humans for some EXP. When I level it up, it really could be used as a nice tactic to trick opponents. Unfortunately, for now, the cost is quite big with my current aura reserves. So I wouldn't be able to use it that way.

_Oh well, you can't have everything._

Now I could either proceed with my test, or try to create two of the most basic magic skills. Nah, I should probably do that later. I've wasted enough time already.

"Well, up we go," I whispered as I flapped my wings and began flying along the shore. At last I could discover more of this land, it would be useful later on. And of course, now I could resume my target practice.

_Little animals here I come... please don't call PETA._

* * *

**Three and half a day later**

Yep, I could fly without tiring for more than a day, and even then I didn't feel a thing. That was why after finishing my first day of flying continuously, I decided to just say 'fuck it' and pass through the sea.

After two days of continuous flying, I finally reached the next shore and it wouldn't be a lie to say that I miscalculated. Because you see, when I arrived at the shore I got a very interesting notification.

**[Congratulations! You left Salem's territory and entered Major territory number 7.]**

_Wait, what? Major territory? Number 7? What the hell is going on? Some explanation would be nice!_

**[Oh yeah, I forgot...my bad?]**

If a Nevermore could sweatdrop or facepalm, you could bet I'd be doing that right now.

**[Anyway... Welcome to the territory system of Remnant. Nearly all of the world of Remnant is made up of territories, some smaller and some larger. Thanks to the system you can now conquer those territories and take them for yourself. Every territory requires you to meet certain requirements in order to attain it. Those requirements vary from territory.**

**The territories separate into two categories, minor and major.**

**Minor territories are temporary, created inside or outside a major territory. For the most part, semi-powerful Grimm can reside in these territories. While conquering those territories won't give you any special boosts, it does reward you with EXP.**

**Next are Major territories. Currently, there are 29 of them. Conquering a major territory grant you special bonuses. Those bonuses can vary from territory to territory, but one thing that is always the same is being granted minor control over all minor grimm within. While you won't be able to lead them like a king, you can make them stop attacking certain places, or make them move out of your territory.**

**Warning: Using the control ability will alert Salem of your actions.**

**There is a lot more to the territory system, but the rest will be explained upon conquering your first major territory. Good luck.]**

Holy shit. And here I thought I would be bored. This would make my entire life so much fun. And with this, I should be able to find the Ancient Grimm easier. Man, I wonder what the requirements were for conquering Salem's territory – apart from defeating her of course.

Well as nice as this was, I'd like to know what territory number 7 is. Maybe I should try the 'territory' menu'?

Huh, it worked.

**[This is the territory menu. Here you can check on every territory you conquered or encountered.]**

**[Number 7: Grimmlands of Vale**

**Requirements to conquer:**

**-Defeat powerful groups of Grimm (0/4)**

**-Exterminate individual number of Grimm (0/200)**

**-Conquer all minor territories (0/3)**

**-Eradicate group of bandits (0/1)]**

Yeah, that's definitely not for me in my current state. The current me would have a problem with killing a bigger Nevermore, so there was no way for me to beat a group of powerful Grimm.

For now the priority was getting to Patch and evolving. I could think about territories and conquering them after that. I could probably deal with the bandits now, but I would prefer to just complete my current mission for the moment.

Now, what was I doing earlier? Oh yes, wherein Sanus was I?

With what the limited amount of map and the name of the territory was telling me, I should be somewhere near the border between Vale and Vacuo. Not bad. I should be able to make my way to Patch from here without any bigger problems.

Without wasting any more time, I took into the sky and flew in the eastern direction. If I was right about this then I should pass near Mountain Glenn. I really wanted to see what you needed to do to get this territory. If I arrived before canon then I bet that I'd need to defeat the Wyvern. That would be an interesting fight for when I obtain my dragon body.

I flew for almost the entire day before I felt some negative emotions in my range. Thanks to 'Negativity Absorption' I could feel them within a one-mile radius, and it only used ten MP per minute so I could easily keep it up without problems and still use 'observe' to level it up.

Of course, I decided to see where the negativity was coming from. Before that though, I activated 'Stealth' just in case. You never knew what you might encounter.

In the end, I didn't need to fear as it was only one of those small villages that were created outside of the Kingdoms' control. I had no clue what it was called, and I didn't really care, but I was happy that the passive EXP gain had finally activated. It was a small amount, as after an hour I gained only 6 EXP. I hoped that if I level up this skill enough, it would give me a bit more.

I spent one more hour near the village so I could level up 'Negativity Absorption' and 'Observe' before I flew away again. It took me the whole night to arrive in the new territory.

**[You are entering major territory number 4. Warning: Hostile Grimm inside.]**

Hostile Grimm? Shit. I need to be fast, but first, 'Territory number 4'.

**[Number 4: Mountain Glenn**

**Requirements to conquer:**

**-Defeat Ancient Grimm**

**-Exterminate individual number of Grimm (0/500)**

**-Conquer all minor territories (0/2)]**

Expected, but man 500 Grimm? That was a lot. Anyway, I should prob-

"Fuck," I cursed, having barely dodged an incoming feather spear. I looked behind me and saw a Nevermore that was probably the size of a small car. Using a quick 'Observe' I read.

**Adult Nevermore lvl:?**

**HP: 2050**

**MP: 0**

"Hostile Grimm indeed," I grumbled as I shot into the sky at full speed. There was no way for me to defeat this thing so I could only try to escape. I would need to fly between the trees and try to lose it there. Hopefully, it would lose interest if it didn't see me. I was a Grimm after all.

I also heard the sound of two notifications, but now was not the time to check them.

I dodged another few feather spears that the Grimm threw when it saw me. Unfortunately, I couldn't react in time when another came through the crown of a tree and it hit me in the side. Thankfully, the attack only took 90% of my MP and knocked me into another tree.

I used this opportunity to activate 'Stealth' and 'Presence Masking' with the last of my MP and hid inside the bark of the tree. The Grimm released a few loud squawks before I heard it fly away.

Releasing a breath of relief, I perched on the ground and began meditating. I needed my MP full in case of another encounter like that. After filling my MP bar, I checked out the notifications.

**[You gained a new skill.]**

**[Danger Sense (Passive) lvl: 1 (93%)**

**A sixth sense. It lets the user know when an attack is near them and allows them to react to it ahead of time.**

**-Radius: 5 Feet]**

A nice addition. Useful as hell, but it felt really weird when it was working. Never mind, what was that another notification?

**[Quest Completed.]**

**Survive your encounter with the Adult Nevermore.**

**Rewards:**

**-500 EXP**

**-1000 Lien**

**Special reward: 1 EP for not losing any HP**

Okay, now this was a nice reward. I might be able to gain more evolutions before I finally evolve. Alright, I needed to get the hell away from this territory. Those hostile Grimm weren't something I could deal with right now.

I once again took to the sky, but this time I decided to exclusively fly near the seashore. Soon I would make a sharp turn left and I should be able to get to Patch if I remembered the map correctly.

I made the turn about an hour later and once again was treated to a boring view as I flew above the water. It was already dark, so I should arrive sometime in the morning. Fortunately, I had a weak night vision so I should be able to spot the Island.

* * *

**[You are entering major territory number 1.]**

So I was right, the island before me was my target. I should probably check just to be sure.

'Territory number 1'.

**[Number 1: Patch Island**

**-Defeat semi-powerful sea Grimm (0/2)**

**-Exterminate individual number of Grimm (0/50)]**

_Huh, that's easy. I should take this territory first in the future. Now to see where in the timeline I am._

It was already morning so the search for Ruby and Yang's home was a bit easier. The island wasn't as small as I thought it would be, but it still only took me half of the day to find the familiar wooden house. I sat down on a branch some distance away from the house and activated both my hiding skills.

I didn't know how long I sat there, but finally, someone came out from the house. At first, I thought that it was Ruby, as everything about the girl looked like her. She had the same silver eyes, fair complexion, and shoulder-length, graduating black-into-red hair. Her outfit was very similar to Ruby's, but there was one very important difference.

She had a silver cloak.

"Well shit, so Summer is still alive, but is already living here. I need to see either Yang or Ruby to get a more specific timeline," I whispered quietly. Ruby really looked like Summer, the mother was just more... mature.

Thankfully, a few minutes later Taiyang came out with both Ruby and Yang. The redheaded girl looked like she was maximum four or five years old and Yang, as we all knew, was about two years older. That meant that Summer would probably die in the coming months. I was tempted to try and save her, but who knew when it would happen. I didn't have the time to babysit her, and I wasn't even powerful enough to protect myself, let alone save her.

Oh well, it was time to finally evolve. I already heard the notification of the completed quest, so I should have enough evolution points for everything. I looked at the family for the last time before I stretched my wings, and flew away in search of a safe place to evolve.

I found an empty cave on the cliffside and decided that I wouldn't find any better place. I opened the evolution menu and chose the evolutions I wanted.

**Your EP: 6 | Spent EP: 6**

**Chosen evolutions:**

**-Dragon Grimm | Cost: 1 EP**

**Take your first step towards becoming the strongest of the Grimm and unlock your full potential.**

**Passively increases all stats except LUC by 5%**

**Additional 10% to Max HP**

**Unlock the rest of the evolutions**

**-Armor (Weak) | Cost: 1 EP**

**Upgrade your skin, hide, or scales to withstand attacks from low-quality melee weapons and weak guns. Don't get your hopes up, you are still paper for anyone with a brain. This evolution can be upgraded further.**

**\- Dragon's body | Cost: 1 EP**

**Transform your body into that of a dragon. You can choose between different types, and then modify them to a small extent.**

**-Dragonskin | Cost: 1 EP**

**Exchange your current skin for that of a dragon.**

**10% less damage taken from all sources**

**\- Predator's Eyes | Cost: 1 EP**

**Grants better vision, and the ability to see perfectly in the dark. This Evolution can be upgraded further.**

**\- Scales and Spikes | Cost: 1 EP**

**Exchange your feathers for scales and spikes. Really, why do you still have them?**

**5% less damage taken from all sources**

**New skills available**

**[Do you want to proceed with the evolution?]**

**Yes/No**

I tapped yes.

**[As you've finally decided to evolve you must finally choose your name. Think of your new name to proceed.]**

So it was time to select a name huh?

Well, I never was very good at naming things. Really, my cat was called Kitty for the first years of her life before I decided to give her a normal name. But, as I am a creature of Darkness and hopefully one day would rule over it, I decided for a simple name but with a meaning that makes sense.

_I really hope this will pass the color check. My name shall be Umbra, for shadows and darkness. Simple, but sounds cool._

**[You have chosen your name. As your body changes during this evolution, you will need to picture what you want in your mind. Good luck.]**

The moment the notification disappeared, darkness consumed me. I quickly focused on how I wanted my dragon form to look, and waited for the process to complete.

* * *

**Eight hours later**

Finally, after a few hours of waiting, I felt my body change completely. The darkness disappeared and I could see once again. The first thing I noticed was my size. I could feel and see that I was about as big as a medium-sized dog. Quite the leap in size, but that wasn't the most important change. No, for that I had to look at my body.

Without wasting a single second I spread my new draconic – and featherless – wings, and flew to the shore.

There, I could look at my reflection in the water.

My wings and scales were black as night, just like I wanted. I had the body of a typical western dragon without the two front limbs – they would come later. Apart from that, I had spikes running from atop my head down through my spine and long tail. The red glowing eyes remained, but that was fine. Even with my current size, I definitely looked more menacing with my sharp teeth and spiky body.

I based my look on a piece of art I saw of Ancalagon the Black from Middle Earth **[1].**

I still needed the second pair of limbs, and a few more spikes on my head, but I think my new look was close enough to what I wanted.

A few notifications popped up after the evolution finished, but for now, I wanted to rest. I didn't know if this was because of the evolution process, but I think that I've earned it.

With that said, I flew back to the cave on the cliffside and closed my eyes.


	5. Adapt and Survive

In the city of Vale, or more specifically on the hill where Beacon Academy lay, the current Headmaster was in deep thought as he sat in his office in the Beacon Tower. The tower, like the rest of the campus, was a sight to behold. It was the biggest building in Vale, and even from afar people could see a number of green spheres and lights that were surmounted onto the tower itself.

Professor Ozpin, the name of the current Headmaster, was a man in his mid thirties. Some would say that his tousled silver hair and style of dress made the man look older. No one would blame anybody for such an assumption, and Ozpin would probably find such an opinion amusing.

Unfortunately, now was not the time for such thoughts, as something much more pressing was on Ozpin's mind. Yesterday, during the normal school day, he felt something that shouldn't be possible in his current situation.

Magic...

Although he'd lost most of his ability to use it over his life, he could still sense it without much problem. Especially when the release of said magic was uncontrolled, as was often the case with beginners.

Ozpin knew that his senses weren't fooling him, but with the direction in where he felt the magic originate, he couldn't help but feel surprised and worried at the same time. He knew where the current Fall maiden was, not in the direction of the magic, so he ruled her out. Qrow and Raven were also out, as even though they possessed a bit of his magic that allowed them to change into birds, it was too weak in comparison to what Ozpin had felt.

With the exception of Salem, the four maidens, and Ozpin himself, no one else should have been capable of using magic. With that in mind, Ozpin could think of only two possible explanations. Either Salem had given to someone else a portion of her magic, which was highly unlikely, or Summer Rose had used her Silver eyes — which again, was unlikely.

He really should've contacted Summer already to check if she'd seen anything. This situation only continued to bother him, and it didn't help that he had a lot of other things on his plate.

Just when he went to make the call to finally calm his nerves, the doors of the elevator opened and out stepped his trusted assistant.

He smiled, "Glynda, not that it isn't nice to see you this early in the day, but I thought you had lessons currently."

Glynda Goodwitch, the Headmaster's assistant, combat professor, and headmistress at Beacon Academy, walked slowly towards Ozpin's desk, "Qrow called," she said calmly, but Ozpin could hear the slight amount of exasperation in her voice.

The headmaster hummed lightly, "If it was important enough that you felt the need to tell me immediately, then why didn't he call me?"

This time, his assistant didn't even try to hide her exasperation, "He did, you just didn't answer..."

Ozpin raised his eyebrows in surprise and checked his scroll. He found notifications of unanswered calls, and he chuckled slightly before turning back to Glynda, "That I didn't. You will have to forgive me for making you come here. I was too absorbed in my thoughts. Now, if you could tell me what Qrow reported."

Glynda sighed slightly, knowing that something was troubling her boss, "He informed me that he should be back within two days, and that you shouldn't worry unnecessarily Ozpin." She narrowed her eyes slightly, "Now, if only you could tell me what this is all about. Since yesterday, something has been troubling you, and it is taking too much of your focus if it is causing you to neglect your duties."

Ozpin stood up slowly and turned towards the windows to look at the city of Vale, "As always Glynda, you are right." He paused, briefly considering his words, before continuing, "I felt a small amount of magic coming from the direction of Patch Island, and I'm not really sure what to expect. I requested for Qrow to check if I was wrong, and it was possibly coming from somewhere around Vale instead. I will also contact Summer to see if she and Taiyang know anything."

Glynda nodded and walked back to the lift's entrance, before pausing and turning her head around at the door, "It's good to see that you have everything under control. But next time, for the sake of sparing me the trip, please notify me if something like this happens. Now, I will be going back to my classes, have a good day headmaster."

"I will Glynda, and thank you," answered Ozpin.

After he heard the sound of the elevator going down, the headmaster sat down again, and pulled out his scroll to call his ex-student. A moment later, the face of Summer Rose appeared on the screen, "Good morning Summer, I hope I'm not intruding."

The redhead smiled warmly and waved him off, "Of course not professor. I was just preparing some food for Ruby and Yang, but they can wait a few minutes longer."

The headmaster smiled at the mention of the two kids, before he continued, "Unfortunately, this isn't a social call. I have a small bit of information for you and Taiyang, and I would also have to ask a small favor of you both."

Summer nodded slowly and her smile fell a bit, "As long as it doesn't take us away from the kids for too long, then we'll gladly help professor."

Ozpin shook his head, "No, nothing like that, I assure you. Yesterday, I sensed something that shouldn't be possible coming from the direction of Patch, and I would be grateful if you and Taiyang could see if something is amiss on the Island. I don't expect it to be anything dangerous, but I would rest a lot easier if I knew what it was."

"Professor, do you mean that you sensed.." she trailed off at the end, but seeing Ozpin nod, she continued, "Okay, I'll tell Tai, and we'll make a few rounds around the island. Sorry professor, but I really need to go back to the kids now, so I'll contact you if we find anything."

"Of course." Ozpin nodded, "Thank you Summer, and have a pleasant day," with that, the call ended, and Ozpin put the scroll down.

"It looks like I'll need to wait again..." the headmaster whispered to himself with a frown. There was nothing worse for the headmaster than telling other people to do his job. Unfortunately, he had his own duties to see to, and sometimes you just couldn't do everything by yourself.

He'd to learn that the hard way.

* * *

The next day, I once again woke up on the uncomfortable ground of the cave. I was starting to think that I'd never sleep in a bed again. Oh well, I could always find some abandoned village and try to find one there. I could then put it into my inventory and pull it out on some main road. Would be fun to see people's reaction to a Grimm sleeping on a bed.

Ignoring my strange thoughts, I checked the notifications I got after the evolution.

**[Congratulations. You've entered the second stage of evolution. The evolution meter has been set to 0% and the evolution menu has been locked. Upon reaching 100% of your current stage's evolution meter, you will once again be able to enter it.**

**Due to your evolutions, a few of your skills have evolved.]**

**[Skill "Feather Spears" has evolved into skill "Spike Spears". The skill's progress has been reset.]**

**[Spike Spears (Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**Fire your spikes as projectiles at enemies. This ability evolved from [Feather Spears] and has become stronger as a result.**

**-Cost: 20 HP per projectile (5% chance to not consume HP)**

**-Damage based on STR x2**

**-Effect: 10% chance to inflict bleeding (20 DMG/sec for 5 seconds)**

**-Effect: 50% chance to penetrate weak armor]**

Okay... That skill just got a lot more powerful, and that was only the skill at level one. Sure, it cost four times the previous amount of HP, but the old effects couldn't compare to the newer ones. I wonder how much stronger the skill was capable of becoming. I highly doubt that it would be super overpowered when maxed out, but it could still become a mainstay skill of mine, even later on. At least for dealing with weaker enemies.

Alright, what else did I get?

**[Skill "Charge" has evolved into "Dragon Charge". The skill's progress has been reset.]**

**[Dragon Charge (Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**Charge at your enemy, bowling over them with all of your strength. The faster the speed of the impact, the higher the damage output. Leveling this skill lowers the amount of damage taken on your side. This ability evolved from [Charge] and has become stronger as a result.**

**-Cost: The amount of MP or HP used depends on the distance and enemy. Minimal cost: 20 MP/HP**

**-Damage can be increased with STR, VIT, DEX, max MP and aura level**

**-Effect: 5% chance to stun your enemy upon impact]**

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about this skill... My bad?

If I was remembering correctly, then apart from the higher cost, the only thing that changed was the additional effect. The ability to stun an enemy would be really useful in the future, but a five percent chance was not a lot. Hopefully, I could raise it to forty or fifty percent — at the very least — before the skill would be maxed out.

_Now that I think about it, how many levels do each of my skills even have? Game?_

**[I was beginning to wonder when you'd ask about this. To answer your question, every skill has its own max level. Nearly every skill is maxed out at level 10, 25, 50 or 100. There are exceptions to this rule, but they're rare. There's also another mechanic for maxed out skills, but you'll have to figure that out on your own.]**

Okay, so that answered some of my questions. That new system for maxed-out skills interested me a bit, but I could wait. It wasn't like the information was important right now. Still, there was one thing that I _would_ like to know.

_Game, could you show me the max levels of my current skills?_

**[No. I've helped you enough. Figure the rest out on your own.]**

_Geez, I was only asking..._

Again, it wasn't something that I needed to know. In the long run though, it would be nice to know how many levels I needed to max-out my skills. Still, I gained another piece of information so I wasn't complaining. I just needed to experiment a bit with my skills and hopefully I'd find out on my own.

Oh well, it was time for me to break in the new body again. Yesterday I was really tired, even with Gamer's mind and body, so I'd really only paid attention to my new appearance, but apart from that, I was pretty much on auto-pilot.

I flew down to the shore so I could inspect myself again. I still looked exactly the same as I did yesterday, but being fully rested meant I could pay a bit more attention to my whole body. Now that I had more normal legs, it was a lot easier to move, even if I still lacked front limbs. A problem that would hopefully be dealt with in the next evolution.

I also noticed one thing that I completely missed yesterday. While nearly my entire body was black, there were places — especially my spikes — that were a very dark violet color. It was no surprise that I missed them earlier, the color almost blended perfectly with the black. I was more surprised the violet was even there.

When I imagined my form, I made it completely black. So the addition had to have been made either by the Game, or some other factor that I was not aware of. Well, it was not like I cared that much. The color did look pretty nice on me, but it would be nice to know where it came from.

_The mysteries just keep piling up…_

Meh, you couldn't have everything.

With the inspection of my new body complete, I now needed to test just how much harder aerial maneuvering had become. I already knew that I could fly decently well, but I wasn't sure I could still perform some of the harder maneuvers. Besides that, the change may have affected my speed and agility, so that was another thing I needed to test.

Without wasting any more time, I flew just above the top of the trees, and activated my negativity sensing. I didn't want any human to see me. When I was a small Nevermore, I might've been able to pass for a raven, but now? Yeah, I could already imagine people's surprise when they witnessed a small dragon flying overhead. Civilians would probably run away, but huntsman? They would kill me faster than I could blink.

So yeah, I wasn't gonna try my luck. Better to be safe by using the skills I've been given.

Thankfully, I couldn't sense any negativity coming from humans, so I flew a little higher and tried to use my new eyes to scout the terrain around me. The change was instantly noticeable, as I never before saw things so clearly. I might not have the Hawk's eyes yet, but it was close enough for me.

During my observation, I only spotted a few lone Grimm roaming around. With the confirmation that no one was observing me, I began testing out my new body in the sky.

I quickly picked up on the fact that my new wings and body were a lot more powerful than previously. I could fly a bit faster, but the change to a bigger body obviously led to the loss of some agility — an expected outcome. I knew that I'd need to get a few more points into dexterity before I'd be as comfortable as I used to be.

The last thing I needed to do was a battle test. I wanted to see how my new body and its abilities held up in a fight. Maybe I could try and exterminate the fifty Grimm required for the territory...

**[New Quest Obtained]**

**Exterminate 50 Grimm to pass the first requirement for obtaining the territory of Patch. Time limit: 5 hours**

**Rewards: 1 EP, Random Item, 1000 Lien, 2000 EXP,?,?**

**Penalty: The required amount of Grimm to exterminate will be doubled, Patch territory becomes hostile for one week**

**YES/NO**

Huh, interesting quest. From what I remembered of the show, Patch was only infested by the weakest of Grimm, so maybe I could complete the quest. Five hours wasn't too much time for a level six Grimm, but I could fly and I had decent long-range abilities. Now the question was, could I use the new 'Spike Spears' as well as the previous version? My aim wasn't the best, but I was slowly improving. But if my accuracy was dependent on the skill level, then it might be a problem.

Oh well, if I failed then I'd just need to get the hell away from Patch for a week. The rewards were just too enticing for me to dismiss the quest, so 'YES' it was.

The quest window disappeared, and in the corner of my vision a time limit appeared with an indicator telling me how many Grimm I'd already killed. Okay, no time to waste.

I quickly flew to the nearest Grimm I'd spotted previously, and used 'observe' on it once I was close enough.

**Young Boarbatusk lvl: 7**

**HP: 900**

**Additional Info: Weak armor, stupid**

Alright, the additional info was nice. I knew what weak armor meant, but the 'stupid' part was odd. Yes, I knew that Grimm were pretty stupid overall, only relying on instinct. Over time they'd become smarter, and develop something akin to sentience. Still, was there really a need to specify that a level seven Grimm was stupid? It seemed pretty obvious.

Meh, it didn't really matter anyway.

From what I could see — not much because of all the trees — the Grimm was alone. Taking aim, I sent a volley of six spikes from my tail towards the Grimm, and waited for the outcome.

Thankfully my ability to properly aim didn't go away and all of the projectiles hit their mark, with two missing, and four penetrating the Boarbatusks armor. The boar squealed in pain, and quickly turned its eyes in my direction.

The attack only took about 60 HP from the Boarbatusk, but it was a start. And even though my health was regenerating quite quickly, I couldn't just spam the skill like an idiot. It seemed like this quest was going to be a lot harder than I initially thought. I never expected a Grimm like this to have so much HP. Why did it have so much HP when it was only level seven…?

_Alright, let's see how much damage a charge will do._

Going in line with my thoughts, I activated my aura and charged the Grimm. I was left a bit surprised after I hit the boar, it was knocked a few feet away, a bit of its bone armor having cracked.

_I really should've used this skill sooner..._

I promptly took to the skies, and fired another volley of spikes towards the boar's damaged armor. All of them went through, and I heard the sound of notifications coming from the back of my head. Surprised, I looked at my health and aura bar, and then to the Grimm once more.

I felt my jaw drop a bit. I was not sure what was more surprising, the fact that it took half my aura to use, or the fact that the — now bleeding out — grimm only had 200 HP left. I finished it with another five spikes, and watched as the body slowly vanished.

I gained another few notifications, and I quickly came to the conclusion that I needed some sort of log option if I wanted to keep track of what was happening with the system.

**[Log option activated]**

**New logs:**

**-EXP gained: 150**

**-[Spike Spears] gained 2 levels**

**-[Dragon Charge] gained a level**

**-Lien gained: 50**

**-Items gained: 1x Tusk**

_Well that's convenient. Thank you to whoever created this option._

The exp wasn't too bad, and the rest was mostly expected. But why did I gain a tusk?

I opened my inventory midair, and used 'observe' at the new item inside one of the slots.

**[Tusk (Common)**

**A tusk that was left by Boarbatusk. Pretty useless if you ask me.]**

_See, even the Game thinks it's useless! And even if crafting is a thing, I doubt I'd get much use out of such a low leveled item..._

Alright, no reason to get mad. This was just the standard loot that I should've expected with the gamer system to begin with. Besides, I might be able to use it someday, or sell it when I gain a human form.

I was broken out of my contemplation by a very interesting event going on underneath me. On the ground, another two Boarbatusks arrived, and much like the previous one, they were glaring directly at me. A quick 'observe' told me that they were slightly weaker than the last one. I prepared to send another volley of spikes, but then the boars began to move.

Curious, I stopped to see what would happen.

I didn't need to wait long, as the two boars began to spin at the same moment and rushed each other. My curiosity rising, I watched as the two Grimm smashed into one another. But even then, I wasn't prepared for the outcome of such an event.

Upon impact, one of the boars was sent flying into the air in my direction. Well, not exactly in my direction, but close enough. I watched with wide eyes as the boar flew under me, crashing into a tree.

"...What the actual fuck just happened?" I couldn't help but blurt out.

Never in my life had I seen something as ridiculous as what the two boars just tried to pull off. I just couldn't think of any way that would work. On the off chance they somehow managed to aim perfectly towards me, I wouldn't have any problems to dodge. I guess I now knew what the 'stupid' meant in their info. Still, if there was one thing I could applaud them for, it was their cooperation. I didn't know that such young Grimm could think up any form of strategy.

Maybe it was their instinct? Who knew.

Thoroughly amused, I decided to deal with the two boars. I mixed my two skills, along with melee attacks with my claws to defeat them faster than the previous one. They managed to land a hit on me when I tried to get too many hits in with my claws, but I recovered quickly enough.

After this successful fight, I began my search for other Grimm, thankfully finding a small pack of Beowolves. Normally I would avoid packs, but when I saw their levels, I couldn't help but grin. I bet it must've looked weird on my dragon body.

All of the Beowolves were level one or two, and had less HP than the Boarbatusks. Using all of my MP, and more than half of HP, I managed to kill the seven Grimm in about twenty minutes. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, as the Grimm tried to jump on me whenever I got too close, so I had to stay high in the air. After the encounter, I leveled up and gained a few additional stats from the fight.

The Beowolves didn't leave any loot, but I was just glad to have progressed the quest.

**[Grimm killed: 10/50]**

I still had a bit more than four hours, and with the newly leveled up skills, the fights should go a lot faster. I thought of putting some points into STR to boost the damage of 'Spike Spears' but decided against it. Maybe if I struggled later on I would use them.

After that, I mostly flew around Patch, avoiding any humans while killing almost every Grimm I met. Yes almost, when I spotted an Ursa with nearly five thousand HP, I concluded that it would take me too much time to kill it. If I could even manage it in the first place.

During this time I also discovered a very important fact. Critical strikes existed. There wasn't a percentage chance for them, but if I could find a Grimm's weak point then, hitting it would result in a critical strike. I stumbled across this when I managed to hit a Boarbatusk on its underside. Useful knowledge for me in future battles.

I still had six more Grimm to kill with only one hour left, so I flew to the small mountains on the northern side of Patch. I wasn't sure if any Grimm lived here, but I knew that there was practically zero chance of any humans seeing me in the area. Pretty much all of them lived on the southern part of the island.

I probably should've stayed where I was, and killed the rest of the Grimm, as I now had three very angry Nevermores pursuing me. I flew a bit too close to their resting place, and they apparently decided that this was a good enough reason to kill me.

Thankfully, they were all only level four and didn't even possess weak armor.

_Still, three on one is a bit unfair._

I used my higher speed to put some distance between us, and then I tried to hit them with spikes from my tail. They dodged most of them and countered with their own projectiles in the form of feather spears.

Curious, I deactivated my aura and let a few of the spears hit me in the side. I was pleasantly surprised when only one out of the five spears managed to get through my scales. It stung a bit, but overall it only took a few points of my HP away.

Nodding to myself, I activated my aura once again, thus forcefully pushing the spear out of my body, and charged at the nearest nevermore.

The Grimm clearly didn't expect me to turn around on him, and failed to dodge, instead taking my charge head-on. The impact made the Nevermore lose control of its flight, and it began to plummet towards the ground. I took the chance to fire a few spikes at the form of the falling bird.

I didn't have the time to find where it fell, as I was forced to dodge another few volleys of feathers courtesy of the remaining grimm. My gaze flickered towards my kill count for a second, and I noticed—

_—I Only need to kill five more grimm to complete the quest._

Satisfied, I attempted to replicate my previous plan, but this time the Nevermore dodged my charge. I switched to firing my spikes, but I was forced to stop when my HP dropped below 20%.

The Grimm took my pause as an invitation to try and attack me with its talons. I used my tail to swipe it away, and followed up with an aura powered charge to finish the bird off. I really expected them to maintain some distance between us after how I grounded the first one, but it looked like they were too young to understand that much.

With only one Nevermore left, I used my claws and tail to deal with it as it couldn't avoid me any longer. I really didn't want to waste any more HP or MP.

With the last Grimm dead, I searched for the shortest way back to the shore, and began to fly in that direction. On my way there I killed the last three Grimm needed for the quest, thus completing it.

I waited to check the notification until I landed near the water. After landing, I meditated for a few minutes to recover, before finally moving on.

**[Quest Completed]**

**Exterminate 50 Grimm to pass the first requirement for the territory of Patch Time limit: 5 hours**

**Time used: 4 hours 39 minutes**

**Rewards: 1 EP, Small stat Crystal, 1000 Lien, 2000 EXP, Title: Young Grimm, Opportunity to fight for control of the territory**

**[You gained a level]**

Finally, it wasn't easy, but I did it. The random item was a stat crystal. It wasn't bad, just okay. I'd need to see what exactly it did later on. A title, nice. Hopefully, it granted some boosts. Some EXP gain increase would be nice. And the final reward, 'Opportunity to fight for control of the territory'.

_...Wait, what!?_

It was at that moment, that I heard the loud sound of water bubbling in the distance. Quickly taking to the skies, I watched as two heads broke through the water directly below me. The clean water allowed me to see their bodies in its entirety, and I was _not_ happy with what I saw.

The two water Grimm had very long serpentine like bodies, forty feet or longer. Their bodies were slim and muscular, with four caudal fins, and two pectoral fins each. They had a few more fins on their bodies, but I was never a specialist on sea creatures, so I couldn't really tell you much more than that.

The top of their heads featured a horn — one that looked tailor made for ramming into and skewering things — , large mouths featuring a sharp row of teeth, each about the size and sharpness of a human crafted blade, and four moving claws, two on each side of its mouth. Two pairs of glowing red eyes glared at me menacingly, making their intentions clear. Their bodies were mostly black, with black plate bone armor covering certain parts of their bodies.

All in all, they did the stories of fearsome sea monsters proud. And even though I instinctively knew just how outclassed I was, I just couldn't help but observe one of them.

**Adult Reaper lvl:?**

**HP:?**

**Additional Info: weak and reinforced armor,?,?**

_Well, shit._

* * *

**A few hours earlier**

In the Xiao Long-Rose family house, Summer Rose was just finishing up another batch of cookies for her kids. She'd probably made them too often for it to be healthy, but the young woman couldn't help but spoil the two lovely children. Ever since her own family had died, Summer wanted to have people in her life that she could love, and who would love her in return.

Now she had exactly that, and even though Yang wasn't her biological child, Summer still treated her like her own. Raven might have been her best friend, but she was a fool to have left behind such a beautiful child and a loving husband.

Too lost in her thoughts, Summer noticed the small hand trying to grab onto one of the cookies, only after it was in the thief's mouth.

"Yang, what did I tell you about eating cookies that are still too hot?" Summer scolded in an exasperated tone.

"To not eat them?" mumbled the small blonde girl.

Summer shook her head, but a fond smile bloomed on her face, "Exactly Yang, now please go and get Ruby. You wouldn't eat all of the cookies without sharing with your sister would you?"

Yang's eyes frantically shot wide and she shouted immediately, "Never! Ruby, I'm coming!"

And with that, the blond ran out of the kitchen like it was on fire. Summer giggled lightly at her children's antics before turning back to the cookies. She gathered them all on a plate and went to the living room, sitting down and allowing her thoughts to drift again.

Her earlier conversation with Ozpin left her a bit worried, but the headmaster assured that whatever he felt shouldn't be dangerous. She hoped he was right, as Summer didn't want anything that could harm her daughters anywhere near Patch. The island was supposed to be one of the safest places in the Kingdom of Vale.

Her thoughts were again broken when a tall blond man entered through the front doors.

"Find anything Tai?" Summer asked.

Taiyang Xiao Long, veteran huntsman, and Summer's current partner shook his head, "Nothing... I don't know Sum, but I think Ozpin was probably wrong. He told you that he felt the energy coming from the direction of Patch, not _in_ Patch."

"That's good, I really hope that you're right." Summer hesitated, "Still, just in case I think I'll go and make a few more rounds after the girls come down. Just remember to get them to bed on time Tai, I don't want a repeat of last week," Summer said, punctuating her statement with a stern glare at the end.

"Of course dear," he squeaked, making Summer turn away from him, lest he catch her amusement.

A minute later, both Yang and Ruby came barreling downstairs to eat their share of cookies. Summer told her children that she needed to go for a few hours, and Ruby simply pouted at her cutely, while Yang definitely wasn't happy. Even still, Summer gathered her weapon and gear and made her way out of the house.

At first, Summer made a few rounds closer to her home and killed what few Grimm there were with her bow-spear mech shift weapon. Some would say that it was a weird combination of weapons, but for Summer it worked perfectly. She had the long-range of the bow, with which she could use normal or dust arrows, and she had a melee weapon in the form of a spear.

It was a hard weapon to make, as no one had ever made the combination before, but in the end she managed to work out the mecha shift. Its base form was a three feet staff, capable of extending two more feet at the end and releasing a foot long blade at its tip, forming her lovely spear. Unfortunately, to transform into its compound bow form the weapon needed to go back to its base form first. A slight inconvenience, but Summer was still incredibly proud of her silver-red weapon nonetheless.

After finding nothing in the area around her house, Summer decided to head in the direction of the mountains. At first, she didn't find anything major apart from a few small packs of Beowolves, but before she called the expedition off, something very interesting managed to catch her eye.

Quite the distance away in the sky, she saw three Nevermores flying after a completely unrecognizable type of Grimm. It looked draconic in nature, but the fact that it didn't possess front limbs made it look more like a wyvern than an actual dragon.

Summer went to take out her bow and put the Grimm down, but then she saw them begin to fight each other. It wasn't the first time she'd seen Grimm fight amongst their own — territorial disputes were the first things that came to mind — but Summer was interested in seeing what this new dragon Grimm could do. Besides, she was too far away to get off a clean shot anyway, even with her archery prowess.

In the end, although the dragon was small — no bigger than a dog — it still managed to kill its opponents without too many problems. In the meantime, Summer took the opportunity to get a few pictures of the new Grimm, all the while repositioning herself to better deal with the victor. Unfortunately, the strange dragon Grimm quickly departed, and in lieu of chasing it, Summer decided to call it a day. Maybe she'd try to hunt it down tomorrow if it was still on Patch.

She doubted that the Grimm was in any way related to what Ozpin had told her, but a new type of Grimm was still something important. Who knew how strong it could grow if given time?

Sighing deeply, Summer pocketed her scroll and began to run in the direction of her home. Her kids were waiting for her, and if she hurried she might just be able to arrive before they went to sleep.

* * *

**Omake: A new pet**

Taiyang Xiao Long could understand a lot of things. He understood, and was aware of the existence of the four Maidens, magic, and the immortal Salem. He understood how Ozpin had given his two teammates the gift to shift into animals, and he understood just how powerful Summer's eyes could be. But when that very same wife came back home with a very peculiar guest, the blond man was beginning to think that maybe his understanding had finally reached its limits.

After all, how was he supposed to understand his wife coming back home with a completely black, dog-sized wyvern. A wyvern that was most definitely a Grimm. And a wyvern that was currently wearing a collar on its neck with a chain connected to it. A chain that was currently being held by his lovely, beautiful wife.

"Summer, do you mind telling me what in the gods' name that is..." Taiyang said, dragging a hand down his face.

Summer put on the most innocent smile, and replied, "Tai, I want you to meet our newest pet, Mr. Grumpy! Say hi Mr. Grumpy!"

As if to prove the accuracy of his wife's terrible naming convention, the wyvern released something akin to a tired groan. Taiyang, seeing that he wouldn't get any explanation, and that there was no sense in questioning his wife's madness, decided instead to call it a day and go to sleep.

Just when Tai arrived near the stairs, his daughters decided now was a perfect time to come and greet their mother. Knowing that if he stayed there any longer, he would be driven insane, Taiyang made a mad dash up the stairs, completely ignoring and bypassing his two very confused daughters.

Summer sweatdropped at her husband's reaction, but smiled widely when she spotted Yang and Ruby come down in his place, "Ruby! Yang! Look what your mommy got for you!"

Ruby was the first one to react, rushing at the newest pet while screaming, "Ha! See Yang, I told you that mommy would get me a dragon!"

Meanwhile, said dragon could only put his head on the floor and cry silently, and pitifully.

_WHY ME_ _!_


	6. My life sucks

_I'm telling you, this is one huge joke. Why the hell would I want to fight two powerful Grimm just after I finished a quest?! What the hell Game!_ I thought outraged. Those Grimm definitely didn't look like pushovers.

Of course 'Observe' only gave me a small bit of information about them. I mean, I was very thankful for the information that those two monsters had weak and reinforced armor, but what about those two question marks? I wanted to know what they meant too!

_Really Game, why can't you be useful when I need you to._

**[Hey! Don't blame me just because you're weak. You know very well how 'Observe' works. That's not my problem.]**

_It will be if I die!_

**[Meh... I guess I can make this situation a bit more fun. Here you go.]**

**[New quest obtained]**

**Survive your fight against the Reapers**

**Bonus objective 1:?**

**Bonus objective 2:?**

**Rewards: 2000 EXP, Random small Stat Crystal, 500 Lien,?**

**YES/NO**

That wasn't what I wanted, but I'll still take it. The quest didn't want me to kill the Grimm, so I could just escape if things got out of control. I might be willing to fight against enemies that were stronger than me, but there was no way I would endanger life by fighting the Reapers until the end. Who knew if there was anything waiting for me after I died in this world. I was definitely not very eager to find out.

Still, with the quest accepted I could at least try and do some damage. Who knew, maybe they weren't as tough as they looked...

_Yeah right._

My depressing thoughts aside, if I wanted to do anything to those Reapers, I would need to find their weak points. I was pretty sure that their mouth was one of them, but apart from that, I had no idea. I guess it was time for some good old fashioned experimentation.

_I can't wait..._

Thankfully, the two Grimm were courteous enough to only glare at me while I was lost in my thoughts, so I had that going for me. I could probably just fly away and be done with this, but even if things did go south, I was quite confident that I could escape, so I chose to stay. I could fly while they were stuck in the water. As long as I kept my distance I should be safe.

Finally ready to try a few things out, I flew a bit higher and prepared my first volley of 'Spike spears'. This was the longest distance that I'd ever used this skill at, so I wasn't too sure about my accuracy.

Not wasting another second I fired the spikes at one of the Reapers. The projectiles were aimed at the monster's head, and thankfully almost all of them hit their target. Though, that seemed to be the only thing I achieved, as all of the projectiles simply bounced off the Reaper's armor.

Well, at least now I knew where the reinforced armor was. Now I just needed to find the weak part. Hopefully that would happen sooner rather than later. My musings were interrupted by an interesting sight.

_Why the hell is that Reaper drinking so much water?_

After a few seconds, the aforementioned grimm resurfaced, and an answer to my question came in the form of it opening it's large maw in my direction. I was in the process of aiming another volley of spikes at its mouth when the Reaper decided to open it.

Now, this action might've provided a good opportunity to fire into its mouth, if it wasn't for the compressed ball of water the Grimm just fired at me. I barely had any time to activate my aura and force my body to fly to the right. The ball flew past me, but the Reaper didn't give me a chance to relax, releasing another projectile in my direction.

This time the ball grazed my left leg as I tried to evade it. I hissed, as even though the hit was light, it was still strong enough to mess with my flight. It only took me a few seconds to correct myself, and I was glad the Reaper chose to hold off shooting another ball at me.

Of course I jinxed myself, because even though the first Reaper finished his onslaught, the second one finally decided to join the fray and attack me with the same water bullets.

Thankfully my aura only went down by fifty from the small hit, but I couldn't let it hit me again. I might've been able to risk it on its last shot, as then I would have time to recover, but even then I still risked a direct hit. And I wasn't too keen on surviving that.

That was why I dived, using my superior speed to dodge every projectile fired at me. Sometime during my dodging, I chose the best moment to regain some altitude. Exactly one second after this decision, the first Reaper jumped out of the water with its claws whipping through the air towards me.

I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that it almost grabbed my tail. The thought that I should just fly away and be done with this shitshow was growing stronger with every passing moment. Still, I grit my teeth and endured. I still had a few more things that I needed to try. Just a few more minutes, and if nothing worked after that? I was high tailing my ass out of there.

I flew much higher than I did previously, so I would have more time to dodge in case of another attack. This also gave me time to quickly check what the hell the Game thought was so important. The notification sound has been constantly playing in my head. It was getting annoying.

**[You have discovered another attribute of Reaper. Use 'observe' to find out more.]**

Surprised, I did just that.

**Additional Info: weak and reinforced armor, can fire water projectiles (Maximum 2 shots per minute),?**

So the ability had a limit, that was good to know. I could only imagine how utterly fucked I would be if those Grimm could fire more. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to my fights against stronger Reapers in the future.

I still had some time before the first Reaper would be able to use his attack, so I should probably begin with my other tests.

First, I deactivated my aura, letting it recover before the next onslaught, and then I began to fly above one of the Reapers currently circling the area under me. The second Reaper swam underwater so I wasn't sure where it was, but I knew that there was no chance of it catching on me when I was that high in the air.

Finally, when I was directly above the Grimm, I carefully aimed another volley, firing it at one of the Grimm fins.

Not every projectile hit its target, but those that did went right through the fin. The Grimm screeched in pain, letting me know that I'd finally found one of its weak points.

The Grimm didn't give me any time to celebrate, taking another large gulp of water and turning its head towards me. Knowing what was coming I quickly activated my aura, and flew away from it as fast as I could.

I managed to dodge the two projectiles without much hassle. I waited for the second Grimm to attack me with its projectiles, but nothing ever came my way. This fact confused me a bit, but I was pretty sure that the Grimm finally figured out that there was no sense attacking me when I was so far away.

Bad news for me, but I couldn't expect an adult Grimm to be as stupid as the ones I'd fought on Patch. Still, this small fact made all of my next moves much more dangerous. I could really only attack them with my spikes, as I doubt I would survive using my charge. Others would probably try, and maybe even succeed, but not me.

Call me a coward, but I wanted to live, and melee fighting those things would only bring me closer to death. I would rather use my range abilities and survive, I could always come back later when close-quarter fight wouldn't kill me.

Now, my next and last test probably had a small chance of success, but I thought that I could do it. I only needed to dodge the water attacks and I should be fine.

With that, I lowered my flight a bit and went up to max speed. I wasn't sure of the exact speed of the water projectiles, but I was sure that my current speed would be able to dodge them even at close range.

Finally, as I got closer I mentally prepared a very large amount of 'spike spears', and waited for the right moment.

The Grimm whose fin was still bleeding after my attack opened its mouth and prepared to fire. I used this exact moment to throw my own spears from my tail.

This maneuver made me lost a bit of my speed, and even though I managed to dodge the first projectile – and witness my spears hit the Grimm in its open mouth – I was hit right in the middle of my underside by the second Grimm, who used my moment of distraction to aim its shot perfectly.

The hit completely destroyed my aura and knocked me off course. Thankfully, I was flying next to the shore, so I crash-landed right onto the sand. It still hurt, but a quick check of my health bar let me know that I still had more than fifty percent HP.

All in all, I thought my last action was worth it. From what I saw, my spikes impacted the Grimm right at the moment it wanted to release its second projectile at me. I heard it cry out in pain, and if I was seeing things right, then the monster was retreating.

Yep, definitely worth it. Although I couldn't see its health, I was pretty sure it was heavily wounded if it decided to retreat. Though, there was no way for me to follow it with my almost empty aura. And quite frankly, I've had enough of this 'fight'.

I quickly gathered myself from the sand and took off into the sky once more. The second Reaper could still attack me, and I would rather get far away from here and recover.

I took one last look at the lone Grimm that remained and shook my head. Nope, it was too early for me to fight those things. Maybe in a few levels, or when I gained better-ranged attacks. But right now I would need to risk an attack like the previous one too many times for it to be safe.

"Meh, I'll get you sooner or later. For now, hasta la vista, or something like that." I said, completely drained.

With my half-assed goodbyes complete, I flew deeper into the forest. After flying some distance away from the shore a notification appeared before me.

**[You are leaving the quest zone. Are you sure you want to cancel your battle?]**

_Yes, I'm quite sure. I need to finally go over my rewards…_

* * *

After the game finally let me out from the battle area, I made my way towards the same cave that I evolved in. I felt like it was a good place to finally relax for a bit and do some things that I should have done before my fight.

First, my mind went back to the fight. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Yes, I was still heavily outclassed and I only damaged one of the Reapers because I managed to land a shot while it was charging its attack. Taking under consideration that the Reapers adapted quite quickly during the battle, I was quite sure that this tactic wouldn't work again.

Well maybe once, but after that, I doubted that they would fall for this trick again. Without this method, I would have to stick to my 'Spike spears' and even though they were powerful after gaining some levels, they still had only five percent to pierce reinforced armor. It would take my hours before the Reapers would fall and even then I was under risk of getting hit by one of those water attacks again.

Yeah, my retreat was a good decision. Without more powerful ranged attacks or bigger body for close quarters, my chance to defeat those Reapers was very small. The territory could wait, I had the time.

_I won't die, not again._

Next, I wanted to see what the hell did I get from the last quest. Hopefully, I didn't risk my ass for nothing. I knew that with the two additional objectives one would be to kill both of the creatures, but I had no clue what the second one would want from me.

**[Quest Completed]**

**Survive your fight against the Reapers**

**Bonus objective 1: Make one of the Reaper withdraw or kill it [Completed]**

**Bonus objective 2: Kill both of the Reapers [Failed]**

**Rewards: 2000 EXP, Random small Stat Crystal, 500 Lien, Empty dust crystal**

**Bonus reward: 500 EXP, Random Stat Crystal, Skill book, 2 EP**

**[You leveled up.]**

Not bad. I hoped for more EXP, but stat crystal and skill book was also nice. Thankfully it was enough to give me another level. Surprisingly I even felt myself grow a bit when the notification appeared.

Weird it didn't happen before. Maybe it only happened every few levels? Who knew.

Still, I was really curious about what the skill book would give me. It had been a while since I got one and even then it wasn't as useful as I would have thought. Don't get me wrong, I was glad for another ability that let me hide better, but I really wanted more offensive skills.

"Let's see then," I murmured as I pulled the skill book out of the inventory. I tried to use the book only to be met with another irritating notification.

**[You don't meet the following requirements to learn this skill: Aura level 10.]**

"You are fucking joking right?" I groaned in annoyance. Last I checked my aura was almost level nine and the logs didn't show anything about it leveling up. It was fucked up that I would need to wait before finding out what the skill was.

I really hoped that it was something worth it if it needed me to get my aura to level ten. This skill leveled up so slowly even when I constantly used it.

_Okay, I will just ignore the skill book, for now, I can grind the level later. Now show me those stat crystals._

I again pulled them out from my inventory. There was nothing special about them, just small red crystals that radiated a small amount of power. To be sure how I was supposed to use them I 'observed' the bigger crystal.

**[Random Stat Crystal (Rare)**

**Crystal full of magical power. Grants the user 5 points to a random statistic. To use, crush the crystal in your hand.]**

_Simple enough._

Five points were quite a generous amount, but I doubt that the small crystals gave anything near the number. Oh well, it would be better if I used it now, I was curious how it would feel anyway.

I put the two small crystals under my left leg and the bigger one under my left. Then with surprising ease, I crushed them.

The power from the crystals quickly went into me and I could feel it coursing through my body, dazing me a bit, before it disappeared completely. Thankfully the sound of another notification brought me out from the daze so I checked what I got.

**You have gained the following stats:**

**+7 DEX**

**+2 STR**

Huh, so the small crystals only gave two points each. Still, I was thankful for the addition. Especially the dexterity, maybe with them my agility would be back to the level from before the evolution.

_You know what, I have sixty free SP so I might as well use a few of them._

Of course, I wouldn't use them for any stat that I could train, no it was too early for that. But luck was something that I should have raised a long time ago. Maybe if I was luckier then the quest rewards would have been better or the battle with Reapers might have been easier.

Yeah, ten points into luck wouldn't hurt me and it just might save me one day. With the luck now sitting at fifteen I glanced back at the reward log and saw the two last things that I almost forgot about.

The empty dust crystal and title... What the hell was I supposed to do with an empty dust crystal? Wasn't it completely useless? Oh well, I should see for myself before I threw it out.

**[Empty Dust Crystal (common)**

**Not much explanation needed. It is an empty dust crystal that can still be used in a few ways. Find them out on your own.]**

_That isn't helpful, at all..._

At least it told me that I could still somehow use it. I let my mind wander for a bit in hopes that maybe I would think of something. Thankfully I did and after I brought the crystal out of my inventory I put one of my wings on it. Then I activated my aura and directed it into the crystal.

The process was slow and draining on my reserves but after a few minutes, the empty white crystal changed color to black – the color of my aura. Curious I used 'observe' once more.

**[Small Aura Crystal (uncommon)**

**A small crystal full of aura. Crush to replenish some of your MP.**

**Effect: Instantly gain 100 MP back]**

_Huh, I don't think that this should be possible. Game, is it your doing?_

**[Yes. Those crystals will work like MP potions in normal games. You are welcome.]**

_Yeah, thanks. To be honest I didn't expect you to put something like that in the system._

With this little mystery figured out, I still wanted to see if I could do more with this thing. I again put my wing on it and channeled more aura. It was definitely the worst idea of my life as in the next moment the crystal exploded throwing me a few feets away.

_Note to myself: Overcharging Aura crystals make them go boom..._

Well, here went my mana potion. Hopefully, I would get more of those later on as they could be really useful. Okay then, I still got one more reward to check out. The title I gained before the fight with Reapers.

While its name was nothing special – really Young Grimm? – when I clicked on it to find more out what bonuses it gave me, my jaw almost fell on the floor.

**[Young Grimm (Major title)**

**Maybe it doesn't sound glorious or scary, but with this title, you are truly on your way to become the strongest. After all who wouldn't want his own Grimm subordinate.**

**Equip the title to gain more information about the subordinate system.]**

Picking my jaw off the floor I equipped the title, instantly another notification appeared.

**[Welcome to the subordinate system.**

**This new addition to the gamer system gives you an opportunity to have your own, single subordinate. It might not be strong, intelligent, or even useful, but at least you will have almost full control of its actions.**

**But you don't need to fear as with time your subordinate can get stronger. You will also be able to use your own Evolution Points to give it more abilities.**

**Be careful as your subordinate can die permanently and you will lose everything that you sacrificed for its growth.**

**To gain a subordinate you need to find a Grimm around your strength and subdue it. The system will take care of the rest. Good luck in your hunt.]**

_So long story short I can get my own lap dog? Nice._

I didn't know if I liked the option to give the subordinate my own evolution points, but an ally would be pretty useful anyway. I needed those points for myself to become stronger.

Now where I could find a Grimm good enough for me to make him my subordinate. It definitely needed to be a Grimm that could fly as I couldn't just leave it behind so the ability of flight was a must. Besides that, it would be nice if it was at least strong enough to kill newborn Grimm.

When I was in the Land of Darkness I saw a lot of Grimm that matched this description, but now it would be much harder to find them. I doubt that I would find anything better than a Nevermore on Patch so my search would need to wait for a bit.

_Oh well, aural level ten here I come._

* * *

Thankfully the grind to get my aura to level ten only took me a few hours. I mostly flew around the coast in search of some Grimm and then spammed charge at them. It also gave me a level in meditation so I was happy with that.

Finally, when aura leveled to level ten I saw what was so special about this milestone.

**[Aura (Passive/Active) lvl: 10 (0%)**

**The manifestation of your soul. Aura can be used for a wide range of abilities. When active, it creates a force field to protect you from harm.**

**-Passively increases all stats expect LUC by 20%**

**-When active your stats are increased by an additional 15% and your MP can be used as a health bar**

**-Cost: MP regeneration disabled until deactivation**

**Special Effects:**

**-Level 10 bonus: You gain the ability to use aura/magic outside your body. You can now create attacks or barriers made purely of MP. With a higher level of 'Aura" the amount of MP used will be lower, the control of aura will get better and damage will increase. Current damage or defense depends on the amount of MP used and your INTx 1. (Enemy armor can reduce the damage dealt.)]**

Obviously, I gained another five percent of additional boost to my stats when I activate aura, but the level ten bonus was something that really surprised me. The ability to manifest aura outside your body apart from just the passive defense was sometimes shown in the show. Still, I never saw it used for anything other than forming barriers or strengthening your melee attacks. And from what I already tried I could do much more.

Apart from creating barriers, I could also use aura to shot projectiles made out of MP or even push my aura outwards to knock things away from me. Very useful abilities that would help me in my future fights. Their damage wasn't too big and the MP cost was pretty high, but it was expected. Fortunately, the skill already said that it would get better with the level so I wasn't worried.

Finally, the skill book gave me a very interesting skill.

**[Dragon Punch (Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**Use one of your limbs and aura to deliver a devastating blow to your enemies. This skill deals damage even through armor, but the effect can be heavily weakened if the user is too weak.**

**-Cost: 50 MP per attack**

**-Minimum damage based on STR x1.5 + INT x1.5**

**-Effect: Depending on the blow you have a small chance to crack enemy armor.]**

If I had to use one word to describe this skill it would be weird. Like really at first I thought that the skill would be completely useless for me as I didn't have my front limbs.

The Game quickly proved me wrong and told me that 'Dragon Punch' could be used with any part of the body. And when I said any, I meant it.

I could use it with my hind legs – even if it was almost impossible –, tail -–easier, but still pretty inconvenient – and finally with my wings. The last option, for now, was the best. Unfortunately sometimes when I used the attack with wings against something stronger I could take some damage.

The received damage wasn't too big, but I really couldn't wait to finally evolve and gain front limbs. Everything would become much easier. Fighting, walking, interacting with the system, you name it.

Apart from that, I tried to create a skill that would work with my claws or jaws. While the attack worked, I never gained a skill for it. Quite unfortunate, but Game just told me that not everything could be made into a skill.

When I finally finished all of my tests I waited for night and flew away from Patch. I stayed there long enough and if I wanted to find a subordinate then I needed to move to more infested zones. I didn't want a normal Nevermore and they were the only flying type Grimm on the island.

So here I was, finally entering another territory after flying for a few hours.

**[You are entering major territory number 2.]**

If I was right then I should be somewhere near Vale so I was really curious what were the requirements for this territory.

_'Territory number 2.'_

**[Number 2: Vale + Forever Fall Forest**

**-Take control over the City of Vale**

**-Destroy the facility of Merlot Industries]**

_Yeahhhhh, not touching that one for a long time. And what the hell is Merlot Industries!? I can't remember anything about this company. Is it some original addition to this world or am I just dumb?_

Hopefully, it wasn't anything important and I would just find out later. Now to begin my search for the perfect Grimm. I would lie if I said that I wasn't even a bit excited.

* * *

It was official, I was not excited, not even a bit. I was bored, annoyed, and angry at the same time. My every attempt to find a good subordinate ended with a failure. Not even once was I close to getting it.

After hours of not finding even one flying Grimm that wasn't a small Nevermore, I decided that maybe I would just try to find a stronger one and be done with it. Like always my luck showed me that it wouldn't work. I managed to subdue a Nevermore two times bigger than me and the Game told me that it was too strong.

Disappointed I killed the Grimm and started my search once more.

After another few hours, I found a Griffon, pretty strong Grimm that would be a fine companion during my travels. Of course like previously the game told me that no, I couldn't take that Grimm as a subordinate.

At this point, I was already highly annoyed so when I saw a Lancer, large hornet-like Grimm, I was ready to subdue it and take it for myself. It wasn't a companion that I wanted, but after wasting so much time I just didn't care anymore.

Of course, I wasn't the only one that didn't care as the Game again told me that I couldn't capture the Grimm as it was a higher level than me.

This brought me to this exact moment in which I encountered my first temporary territory.

**[You entered Temporary territory of Major territory number 2.**

**Objectives to clear the territory: Defeat the special Grimm residing in the area.]**

_Finally, something to take my mind off this shitty day._

I was currently in Forever Fall Forest so hopefully, the Grimm wouldn't be hard to spot with their usual coloring. I still had an hour or two before it would be dark so I should be fine.

I spent the first few minutes flying a bit above the trees to scout the area but didn't find anything. Whatever the Grimm was, it either as good in hiding or I was really bad at spotting Grimm.

Thankfully the territory was quite small so sooner or later I would spot it. I didn't need to wait long as the moment I landed a small black blur passed by me and I felt that my HP took a very small hit.

Confused I quickly turned around and finally saw my target. To say I was surprised would be putting it mildly. I never saw this type of Grimm neither in the show nor wiki.

It was a bit smaller than me and was completely black colored with glaring red eyes. It would look like a small black panther cub if it wasn't for the scales that covered its body in some places and the wings attached to its front limbs. It also had a dragonish tail, but it looked pretty harmless if you ignored its length.

All in all, if someone asked me to describe it in a few words then I would say that it was a panther wyvern. Special Grimm indeed.

Using 'observe', I read.

**Young Swift Wyvern lvl: 7**

**HP: 650**

**Additional Info: Partial weak armor, Very fast, Quite stupid**

_You know what? You, my friend, will be my new subordinate. I don't care anymore and you don't look like a completely useless creature._

With the decision made I activated charge and rushed at the new Grimm. The wyvern proved that the additional info was right and dodged my attack easily before it ran away while using its wings to hop between the branches.

It was a really weird sight to see as it was the first time that a Grimm was running from me without a reason. Maybe that was why the system created a temporary territory, so I needed to catch it before I could kill it. It made sense as the small Grimm had no chance with me in a straight fight.

_Oh well, time to hunt._

It took me another few minutes before I even caught up to the Wyvern. It was really fast and the landscape wasn't really helping me with moving around. Still, I managed to hit the Grimma a few times with my spikes after I sent volley after volley at it.

It slowed a bit with every hit it took and in time it was only left with eighty HP. With the Grimm weakened I wasted no time in subduing it with my limbs. Finally, I asked the Game if it could make this Grimm my subordinate.

**[Creature meets every requirement of the subordinate system. Initializing the bonding process.]**

After the notification appeared, a small bit of black energy left my body and went into the Wyvern. I quickly jumped away from it as the energy again appeared and consumed the Grimm. All that was left was a small black cocoon.

After almost an hour of nothing happening, annoyed at the lack of progress I asked, "Game, just how long will this process take?"

**[Give or take a few hours.]**

"Great. Fucking great," I murmured dryly. It was time to take a nap.


	7. Who are you really?

"What's really going on Oz? You wouldn't pull me out if it wasn't something important," asked a tall, vermilion eyed man, with spiky black hair. His clothes could be described as dusty and worn out, but they still suited the man just fine.

Ozpin sighed as the man sat down in a chair across him and took a sip from his flask, "It's nice to see you too Qrow. I see your habits haven't changed in the few months since we've last spoken..."

Qrow Brwanen, one of Ozpin's most trusted co-workers, smirked and hid the flask in his cloak, "You know me Oz, a day without a drink is a day lost."

Ozpin snorted, "With you, it's more like an hour without a drink is an hour lost," after only getting a wider smirk in response, the headmaster continued, "I called you back to Vale for more than one reason. First, tell me, have you found anything regarding the Spring Maiden?"

The mention of the Maiden immediately put Qrow into a more serious mode. The young girl who was safely hiding in Mistral had one day disappeared without a sign. Neither Ozpin nor Leonardo Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven in Mistral and one of the few who knew about the secrets of Remnant, could find out what happened to her. This was why Ozpin decided to send Qrow in the hopes that his skills would help in the search effort.

Unfortunately, Ozpin got a bad feeling in his gut as Qrow shook his head, "Nothing Oz. It's like the girl just disappeared and didn't leave any tracks. After all this time we can't even be sure if she's still alive. We both know how bad Mistral is outside of the cities and villages. If someone hasn't helped her she might be dead, and if someone did we can only hope that it wasn't _her_."

Ozpin nodded sadly, "Not what I wanted to hear, but I expected nonetheless. It looks like Leonardo will need to deal with this problem alone for now. I need you in Vale for the foreseeable future. I have a few things that I need you to check."

Qrow raised an eyebrow, "A few? So what is it? You were really vague when we talked through the scroll."

Ozpin took out his scroll and searched through it until he found the photos that Summer sent him, "Take a look and tell me what you think," he said before handing Qrow the scroll.

The younger man took the offered device and looked at the pictures thoroughly, "New Grimm huh? Looks different than anything I ever saw. It's pretty small though so it shouldn't be a problem to take down. The question is how many of these new Grimm are out there. Do you have a video of how this thing fights?"

Ozpin nodded, "Just scroll down, Summer sent it to me yesterday."

The recording wasn't too long, but it showed enough to give Qrow some information about the new Grimm. It heavily resembled the fighting style of a Nevermore, but with a draconic build. It was evident that this new Grimm was much stronger.

"Judging by its size it's definitely young. I don't really want to know what it would be able to do if we gave it a few years to grow and gain experience. You want me to hunt it?" Qrow asked after giving his opinion on the Grimm.

"Glynda and I thought the same, but no, you aren't going to hunt it. At least not yet. For now, I want you to investigate the area around Vale. I'm still unsure where the magic pulse came from so having you investigating it would put my mind at ease." Ozpin explained.

Qrow drummed his fingers on the desk that separated the two, "Summer didn't find anything about that eh? Alright, I can make a few rounds here and there. I doubt I'll find anything if whatever gave out the pulse didn't leave a sign. We both know that I can't sense magic like you."

Ozpin nodded in agreement, "I quite agree, but knowing you, I think that you'll manage to find something anyway. Even then, the scouting might help with the other thing I want you to do. Our friends from Vacuo finally found some tracks."

This stopped Qrow from taking another sip from his flask, "About time, they sure took their sweet time with this. I was curious ever since I encountered those mutated Grimm. So what did they find?"

"We're still not one hundred percent sure, but it looks like my old acquaintance Dr. Merlot is not as dead as I had assumed," Ozpin sighed, the doctor's actions still left a bitter taste in the headmaster's mouth, "The team in Vacuo managed to find one of his hideouts and determined that it was quite recently used. There they found some notes on his more recent research. It confirmed that Merlot Industries is once again active, and that they're somehow behind the mutations of some of the Grimm."

Qrow raised his eyebrow a bit, "You told me about him some time ago. Wasn't he the guy who was partially responsible for Mountain Glenn's fall?"

"You still remember, I'm surprised," Ozpin chuckled, but his mood sobered after a moment, "While I am not one to wish anybody death, it would've been a lot better if Merlot stayed dead. And now according to the Vacuo team, he has a base somewhere near Vale."

"So apart from looking for any signs of magic, you want me to be on the lookout for this base?" Qrow asked finally after he processed all the information.

"I know this is a lot to ask for, especially after you just came back from a long term mission, but you know that you're the best for the job Qrow," Ozpin answered, but it was evident the headmaster wasn't pleased with his own request.

Qrow released a sigh of his own. Sometimes he really cursed his job, even if it took him away from people so they wouldn't be affected by his semblance, "Don't worry Oz, just give me a few days to visit Tai and Summer and I'll be on my way. Besides, you know that I prefer to be alone."

Ozpin frowned as he heard the last sentence, "We talked about this already Qrow. Even if your semblance is... not the safest around other people, you can't just isolate yourself."

The younger man waved him off, "Yea, yea, I'll think about it. But before I go, I gotta ask; do you think that Merlot could be behind this new Grimm?"

The Headmaster shook his head, "Doubtful. Merlot wouldn't release something like this into the world. No, he would keep it inside one of his facilities."

Qrow then stood up and straightened his clothes, "If that's all I'll be off then Oz. I saw a nice new bar down in Vale. Who knows, I might just get lucky today," the man finished with a grin as he entered the lift in Ozpin's office.

Said headmaster chuckled loudly. Leave it to Qrow to say something like that as a goodbye.

* * *

**[Bonding process has succeeded. Meet your new subordinate.]**

What? I thought as the sound of a notification woke me up from my nap. It took me a moment to remember what was happening, and only then did I notice that the black cocoon of energy disappeared. Now in its place stood my new subordinate. I instantly noticed a few changes about it.

Instead of the glaring red eyes inherent in most Grimm, my wyvern now had dark violet eyes that looked at me with complete indifference. I probably should've expected that, its description did say that it was stupid. Apart from the eyes, the Grimm now was a bit bigger, and its overall coloring now resembled mine.

All in all, I liked the change, but I was aware that a Grimm with different colored eyes would make people ask questions if they saw it. I would need to keep it hidden for now and teach it how to be stealthy, _Oh man I can feel the headache coming. I only hope it isn't as stupid as I think._

After shaking my head to get rid of the exhaustion that always came after waking up, I pulled myself up and asked the most important question.

_Alright, Game. You said that I have full control over my subordinate's actions and it can get stronger with time, but I don't believe that's all._

**[Your control is absolute, but due to your subordinate's intelligence, the effects may vary.**

**Like all Grimm in the beginning, they're stupid and slowly build up sentience the longer they live. It works the same for your subordinate. So expect that not all orders will work as you might intend them.**

**It can't be too easy after all right?]**

_It never is with you,_ I snarked back.

**[No need for aggression. Thanks to the gamer system the speed in which your Grimm gains intelligence is much faster than normal.**

**You can also communicate with your subordinate mentally, so there's no need to speak your orders out loud. This function should help you if you want to give orders from a longer distance.**

**As for getting stronger with time. The Grimm can level up, much like yourself, but it won't get stats. Yes, it will grow stronger, but the system has another way of showing it. Use 'Observe' on it and see for yourself.]**

"Okay?" I said quietly, and once again looked at the Wyvern Grimm. It was still looking at me with the same indifferent stare. It was a bit creepy if you asked me.

'Observe.'

**Name: Nameless**

**Race: Bonded Grimm (Swift Wyvern)**

**Level: 7**

**Evolution Stage: 1 (0%)**

**HP: 800**

**MP: 0 (Currently unavailable)**

**Tier: E**

**Current Evolutions and abilities: Partial weak armor, Very high movement speed, Lack of intelligence, Very advanced senses, Negativity absorption**

_Not bad,_ I thought as I looked at all the information 'observe' provided me with. Its race was somewhat expected, but I hoped that it would be transformed into a soul Grimm. The ability to use aura would be very helpful. Unfortunately, it looked like I would need to find a way to give my subordinate a soul, or at least the ability to channel MP.

Like me, it had a level and an evolution stage. I wasn't too sure about giving away my own EP to help the Grimm grow, but I would cross that bridge when I came to it. Maybe it would be able to gather evolution points for me, who knew. I would need some time to experiment and see for myself how it worked.

Its health points were almost as high as mine - which was quite baffling as I was a fucking dragon - so hopefully it wouldn't die from one attack. The additional info part changed, and now it gave me a lot more information.

The three first elements were the same as before, but the next two not so much.

Advanced senses could be useful, but it wasn't something that made the Grimm special, just a bit stronger. My own senses were pretty good, but I was curious if my subordinate's were better. Something to test later on.

And finally its last ability. Negativity absorption. It was good to know that it could passively gather EXP like me. That meant that I could just send it near some human village and it would level up after some time.

_I wonder if it can share EXP with me. Game?_

**[Yes, it can.]**

_Thanks._

With that out of the way, I looked at the thing that didn't make any sense to me. Tier? What the hell was that? 'Observe' has never given my information in a tier, and I was pretty sure that the system never mentioned anything about it.

_While I really loathe to ask you again Game, an explanation would be welcome._

**[Oh well, I was going to tell you anyway.**

**The Tier system is something that was created by the system to judge the overall strength of any being (including Grimm, robots, etc). Due to the fact that only you possess the gamer system, stats like STR, VIT, INT, etc. don't apply to other beings. Even your subordinate doesn't possess a full gamer system, so it also falls under the tier system.**

**Every unique ability, physical attributes, and even weapons are accounted for in determining a being's Tier ranking.**

**The lowest possible tier is F and it is mostly given to the weakest Grimm and humans that can't fight. The highest is S, but I won't spoil you which beings are in this category. The power gaps between Tiers get bigger and bigger the higher the rank.**

**From now on, you will be able to see Tiers after using 'Observe'.]**

_That's... convenient. I suspect that this Tier doesn't apply to me?_ I asked after processing the new information. This new function would be useful in future fights. It was good to know how outclassed you were in a fight.

**[No, it doesn't. Though I suppose if you really want to know, I can tell you. Currently, you would be classed as Tier D/D-]**

To be honest, I quite expected this. I wasn't too strong, and there were plenty of beings that could crush me within seconds. At least now I knew where I fell in the food chain. It was just further motivation to get stronger, so no one would ever be able to end my life again.

Finally, I went back to the problem at hand. I looked at the Wyvern, "You're nameless like I used to be, but I can't just call you Grimm till the day I can finally name you. Well, I guess for now, you'll be Bob," I said with a grin, or at least the equivalent of a grin on a dragon's face, "Yeah, Bob will do just fine. Am I right?"

"..."

I should've known better than to expect an answer. The newly named 'Bob' looked at me like I was an idiot, and I couldn't help but sigh. I felt like I would go mad before I managed to make this thing listen to me.

_But before I even try, let's see what I got for the completion of the temporary territory._

**[Congratulations, you cleared the temporary territory!**

**Rewards: 1000 EXP, 1 EP, 2 Empty dust Crystals]**

Nothing special, but any free-evolution points were welcome. Who knew how expensive the next evolutions would be. Apart from that, I might need to spend some on 'Bob'. I would need to find more of those temporary territories and try to gain some EP.

_Alright, time to get moving,_ I looked back at 'Bob', and tried to give him a mental command, _Follow me._

Surprisingly, 'Bob' reacted and flew behind me as I searched for some low-level Grimm. It didn't take us too long before I spotted a lone Creep. It was small and quite pathetic, so all in all it was a perfect subject to test Bob's abilities.

We landed some feet away from the Grimm, and I gave a simple command, _Attack._

Now, I expected many things to happen. The command not to work, Bob charging and attacking the Creep instantly, or even Bob flying in the opposite direction. But nothing could prepare me for my lapdog running at the nearest rock, and start to viciously attack it with its claws.

"You're fucking kidding me right?" I said in disbelief, "In what world would you think I wanted you to attack the rock!"

The Wyvern stopped its attack, turned back to me, and began to stare at me with a confused expression. How could it even look at me like this? I gave it one simple command, and it couldn't even follow that. I hoped that it would be at least somewhat useful and become a good companion after some time.

_Dear god, it's gonna be a long few weeks..._

* * *

Indeed, it took me almost three weeks to train 'Bob' to be useful. It wasn't easy, and there were moments when I was sorely tempted to just kill the Grimm and be done with it. Thankfully I didn't, and now the Wyvern was capable of listening to almost all of my orders. The Game was actually right when it said that the subordinate system would let Bob develop sentience faster.

I still didn't know how to give the wyvern a soul or the ability to use MP, but I was fine with that. I had plenty of time, and I was sure that the system would give me a way to accomplish it sooner or later.

During this time the overall strength of Bob increased to Tier E+ so it was at least a bit stronger. I tested it against some weaker Grimm - nothing stronger than F to E- Tier Grimm - and I could proudly say that my lapdog was winning those fights without any problems. Well, almost no problems. Its ability to fight in the air was quite limited.

It was also very easy to get the one hundred percent required for Bob's evolution. As with me, I had a lot of choices like armor, additional limbs, a spiky body, night vision, or some form of passive upgrades. While all of them looked useful enough that I probably should've bought them, I really didn't want to. Even after all this time with my 'companion', I still wasn't too sure it was worth spending my hard-earned EP on it.

Apart from that, I also managed to grow in strength, and I even unlocked the next evolution.

**Name: Umbra**

**Race: Soul Grimm**

**Title: Young Grimm**

**Level: 12 (3625/4900)**

**Evolution Stage: Draconic 2 (100%)**

**HP: 1100**

**MP: 1010**

**STR: 21 + (25%) = 26.25**

**VIT: 24 + (25%) = 30**

**DEX: 30 + (25%) = 30.7**

**INT: 22 + (50%) = 33**

**WIS: 21 + (50%) = 31.5**

**LUC: 15**

**Elemental Affinity:**

**SP: 65 | EP: 11**

**Lien: 7522**

I was quite proud of my improvement in both basic statistics and skills, even managing to max out a few of them. Some new effects were added, like a small chance to destroy enemy armor when I maxed out 'Dragon Charge'. Useful thing to have when I fought against weak Death Stalkers. Not that they were a challenge when I could just throw spikes or aura bullets at them from where they couldn't hit me. The only problem was their HP, but I should have probably expected it from a D ranked Grimm.

Another surprise was when I reached the 25th point of dexterity. To be honest, I expected some kind of perk for reaching it, but instead, I gained a small passive bonus.

**[1st DEX milestone: +5% attack speed and movement speed]**

Nothing too big, but I instantly felt the difference in my next melee fight.

Finally, the most important moment throughout those weeks was me unlocking another evolution. The evolution menu mane with it, and I was already waiting to gather a few more points so I could get everything I wanted.

**Evolution available | Your EP: 11 (Some costs may be different due to the next stage)**

**\- Armor (reinforced) | Cost: 3 EP | Bought: level 1**

**Upgrade your skin, hide, or scales to withstand attacks from semi-average quality melee weapons and guns. Your armor is now slightly stronger, but can still be easily pierced. This evolution can be upgraded further in the future.**

**\- Predator's Eyes lvl. 2 | Cost: 4 EP | Bought: level 1**

**Gain stronger vision. Weak thermal vision is now available to you**

**\- Stronger spikes | Cost: 4 EP**

**All spikes on your body become stronger. You can add more of them to your body.**

**Your spikes and spike related skills deal 50% more damage**

**\- Second pair of limbs | Cost: 4 EP**

**Gain your second pair of limbs (not including wings) and become a true Western Dragon.**

**\- Second pair of wings | Cost: 6 EP**

**Gain your second pair of wings. They can be released upon command.**

**When active: Passively increases DEX by 50%**

**\- Fire sack | Cost: 3 EP**

**Gain the ability to use the element of fire. Unlocks Fire breath. This evolution can be upgraded further to make your fire stronger.**

**Currently, you may only possess one main element.**

**\- Lighting core | Cost: 3 EP**

**Gain the ability to use the element of lightning. Unlocks Lightning stream. This evolution can be upgraded further to make your lightning stronger.**

**-Water Core | Cost: 3 EP**

**-Wind Core | Cost: 3 EP**

**\- Dragon Rage | Cost: 8 EP**

**Gain the ability to enter the state of 'Dragon Rage'. Upon entering 'Dragon Rage' you gain a 100% increase to all of your stats except LUC. Beware, this ability is a double-edged sword. Your Gamer's mind is heavily weakened in this state, and you will go berserk if you remain in it for too long. Can be trained and further upgraded.**

**\- Faster growth | Cost: 1 EP**

**You grow a bit faster. This evolution can be upgraded further.**

**10 % faster growth speed**

**\- Size Adjustment | Cost: 5 EP**

**You can now adjust the size of your Grimm form.**

**Warning: You can't use this ability while in Combat. You can't make yourself larger than your current maximum size.**

**-Hunter pulse | Cost: 2 EP**

**Unlocks [Hunter Pulse]. The ability of any Alpha predator. Send a pulse of energy through the nearby territory in search of anything alive. Warning: Some creatures are capable of sensing the pulse, or hiding from it altogether.**

**-Underwater Breathing | Cost: 2 EP**

**-Climate resistance | Cost: 3 EP**

**Now you'll be able to resist extreme climates without even feeling it. This does not mean that you are immune to attacks that use extreme heat or cold. You may only choose one extreme per evolution.**

A Fucking Lot.

That was my first thought when I saw the number of new evolutions that I could buy. Then I saw their prices and my excitement promptly disappeared. If I'd known that the price of additional limbs would get higher, I would've waited and gathered more points before evolving for the first time. Such a beginner mistake.

Of course, not all of these evolutions were useful to me at the moment, but who knew what I might need in the future. For now, I would wait and gather a few more evolution points before finally purchasing my first element. I was a bit disappointed to learn that I could only have one main element, but you couldn't have everything.

There were also some items that Bob and I gained during our fights, but we never got anything important.

All in all, these past few weeks weren't that bad. I may have lost a few brain cells during Bob's training, but apart from that, it gave me time to fully adapt to this new world. I might've accepted my new life, but it would probably take another few months before I fully understood what I got myself into. For now, my survival and growth were the only things important to me.

Selfish?

Maybe, but why would I care about anything else. I have no one important to me here, and Remnant wasn't the safest of places. It was only me on this lonely adventure, and I had to survive.

_Heh, where did those thoughts come from? I better go and check on Bob before I begin to think about the meaning of life,_ I thought amused. It was probably the best idea anyway, as my Grimm companion managed to find a village that had a very high amount of negativity output.

Now that I thought about it, it was too big to be normal. Something must've happened, and I'd better get there fast before Bob manages to fuck something up. The Grimm had the attention span of a goldfish, so I wouldn't put it past Bob to run straight into danger even if I ordered against such action.

* * *

In the conference hall of the Evernight castle, Salem sat alone on her crystal throne. Before her floated one of the Seer type Grimm. It showed her various scenes that the Grimm under her control witnessed. It was thanks to this that Salem could gather information from all over Remnant, even if sometimes it proved quite hard.

Currently, the Grimm was showing her the fight between two of the Reapers, and the Dragon Grimm that recently escaped the Land of Darkness.

Salem was really glad that she let the Grimm leave her domain. Never in her life would she have expected a Grimm to evolve on its own in such a short time. Its natural intelligence and abilities were astounding, and the Queen couldn't wait to get the Dragon under her control.

Of course, it still wasn't strong enough to defeat the two Reapers, but she estimated that if they fought again in a month or two, the Dragon would be the victor.

Salem wasn't concerned that she couldn't control this unique Grimm as she had many ways of capturing it and making it work for her. But it was too soon to do this. The Queen wasn't sure if the Dragon would continue growing while she controlled it. So for now it could enjoy its freedom. Salem could wait if it meant that she would gain another powerful minion.

What was waiting a few years compared to waiting a few thousand after all?

Before Salem could make the Seer replay another short scene, the door to the conference hall opened and one of her faithful followers stepped in.

"My Queen," Tyrian Callows bowed deeply, "The task has been completed. What would you have me do next?"

Tyrian was a pale man with golden eyes and a brown ponytail braided to resemble a scorpion's tail. This little fact always amused Salem, as the man was a faunus with a natural scorpion tail that he used in battle.

His psychotic personality wasn't something that Salem liked very much, but it was that same psychopathy that made Tyrian worship the very ground she walked on. He always completed any task that she had given him, so Salem couldn't complain.

"Well done Tyrian. Little Cinder will be a fine addition to my ranks. I hope that you made sure to warn her of what she can and can't do," the Queen said with a hint of warning in her tone.

"Of course my Queen," Tyrian reassured before giggling madly, "I am sure that the little girl will enjoy her stay here."

"Good," Salem said to herself and then looked back to her follower, "I want you to find everything that you can about Dr. Merlot and his company. If he is alive I want you to find him. Am I understood?"

After Tyrian gave a nod and a short bow, Salem dismissed the man with a wave of her hand. As the man left the room, Salem stood up and looked out of one of the windows at the vast lands covered in darkness and Grimm.

Tyrian had really found a diamond in the rough when he was on his mission near Vale. Who would have thought that a girl with such potential and fire in her would be found in a human trafficking ring that bandits liked to maintain. Salem would be sure to use little Cinder's fire to accomplish her own goals.

Now if only Tyrian could find this doctor, then Salem would have almost everything that she needed to begin her plans.

_Yes, everything is slowly falling into place._

* * *

Thankfully the village wasn't that far away from my previous location, so it only took me one hour to reach the current spot where my companion was waiting.

While the village wasn't particularly small, I saw a few that were bigger, so it was confusing how they survived for so long if they were constantly releasing so many negative emotions. It was a miracle that the place hasn't been overrun by Grimm already. I was getting the maximum possible amount of EXP right now, and that didn't happen too often.

After I landed, I gave Bob a few orders to go and hunt some weaker Grimm around the village without being seen. After all this time, it could understand orders like that quite well, but it still couldn't give me any kind of response. I really hoped to change that in the near future.

With Bob gone I focused on the village again, trying to find anything unusual with my superior vision.

Of course, my initial scouting didn't bear any fruit, and I was once again left confused. There weren't any fights breaking out, no people shouting, nothing. It was a completely normal village.

It looked like I'd need to get into the village proper and try to listen to some conversations. Thankfully it was already dark, and with all of my stealth skills, I should be able to remain unseen. I grew a bit in these last few weeks - now being slightly larger than your average Boarbatusk - so my size definitely didn't make sneaking around any easier.

It took me a lot of maneuvering and patience to find a local inn with an open window that I could listen through. There, I finally found out what the hell was going on in this village.

"This is the fourth family that's been slaughtered and had their kids kidnapped. If it wasn't for Jet, we would have never known what happened to them," said a male voice that was definitely drunk, and angry.

"Fucking bandits. Dunno why we still haven't contacted Vale to deal with them. How many families do they need to kill, how many kids will they take before we finally do something?" responded a female voice equally drunk and angry.

"Bah! Our mayor is too scared to act. They have his daughter, and we're too far away from Vale for him to risk it. I can understand the man, but things will only get worse... If only those bastards didn't destroy the communication antenna," the male spat bitterly.

"We can only hope that a Huntsman will come through here and deal with this," was the final response from the female before the conversation went silent.

_Well shit. This explains almost everything... It might be a good idea to investigate,_ I might not be a particularly moral being, but if the bandits were doing what I thought they were, then even I couldn't ignore it. I wasn't a hero, but even I had my own lines that I would never cross. After all, I was human once.

**[New Quest Chain Obtained]**

**Who are you really?**

**A Man or a Monster?**

**Objective 1: Investigate the rumors you overheard in the village**

**Objective ?: ?**

**Rewards: ?**

Who am I indeed, with a quest like that I couldn't just ignore it now. Even if the name of the quest wasn't very encouraging, I would investigate and see for myself what was really going on here.

_It's time to get to work._


	8. In the Darkness

To be honest, I wanted to stay for a bit longer in the village to try and find more information. Unfortunately, most of the conversations inside went silent after the last one and I was quite sure that the humans inside drank too much and finally fell asleep. I didn't risk taking a peek, I got most of what I wanted already and I didn't need to do everything today.

For now, I should probably get out and call Bob to me. I was really glad that mental commands worked with the Grimm to some degree, though it was better when I gave them in person. I didn't have a clue why it worked like that and the system wasn't too keen on explaining anything. It was always, "find out on your own", or something like that.

It took me a few minutes to maneuver through the village and put some distance from it. After that, I checked my notifications to see if Bob had found anything useful.

Of course, he didn't apart from killing a few low-ranking Grimm that were already running in this direction. It would probably be another few days before a stronger Grimm took interest in the high negativity output. And while I was quite curious as to how the village would defend themselves, I didn't plan on sticking around to find out. This territory wasn't too friendly, and I'd already spotted a few Grimm that could probably one-shot me.

I was only here for the quest, and to placate the last bits of my morality. After all, in my old life, I had quite a big family with lots of kids in it. While I wasn't close to all of them, I had two nephews that were very important to me. The thought that kids no older than them could be in the hands of some idiots didn't stick too well with me. This new world might have already changed me, but some things stay with you forever.

If my investigation somehow helped the village then good for them, but I wouldn't go out of my way to save them from Grimm that would probably tear me apart. I could handle some bandits, but even then I wasn't planning to fight anyone yet.

Bob's arrival made me drop those thoughts. It was quite sad that my new companion couldn't even talk to me. I was getting quite annoyed by the blank stare he always gave me. Hopefully the ability of speech would come sooner rather than later . . . I might go mad if I couldn't talk to someone soon. You could only go alone for so long, especially if you found yourself in a new world with the body of a Grimm.

Sighing, I looked back at Bob and asked very slowly, "Did you see any humans on your hunt?"

It was probably one of the most complicated things I'd asked him during those few weeks, so I really tried to make my question perfectly understandable. At first, the Wyvern only dipped his head to the side and I was slowly dreading that I would need to explain everything for another few hours as I had in the beginning. Thankfully, I was saved from the most boring and annoying task in the world when Bob shook his head.

"Thank god," I murmured in relief that he answered.

I then looked at the sky and saw that there was still some night left. With a few more simple commands, I told Bob to fly around the area and search for signs of fighting or humans. The Grimm again took a moment to process the orders before he flew away from my location.

Releasing another breath of relief, I tucked my wings to my body and lied down for a moment. I still wanted to go to the city and get more info, but it was already too late so I might as well get some rest myself.

Not that I needed sleep, but I liked to do it from time to time. Old habits die hard, but before that, I still had one more question for the system.

_So chain quest eh? I get the general idea, but I'd still prefer a more detailed description. Also, are there more types of quests?_

**[As this is something that you should know, I'm not against giving you more details.**

**Let's start with quest types. For now I've created only three types. Normal quests which you've already seen multiple times. You already know the deal. These are pretty straightforward, so not much needs to be said.**

**Next are the time-limited quests. Again, you've seen this type of quest a few times, and I think the name speaks for itself.**

**And finally, we have chain quests. These are created when you happen upon an event that is very important. Objectives in this type of quest change as you progress. Based on your actions, the objectives will change accordingly. The Butterfly effect would be an apt phrase to describe these types of quests. Always remember to think about your actions thoroughly before you make them, as you may not like the outcome.]**

_Butterfly effect you say? I'm familiar with the term. Even a small change can result in large differences in the future. Both an annoying and curious process._

So this quest really was important . . . I could see how helping some kids would change the future a bit, but not on a larger scale. Oh well, I would find out later. Maybe the bandits had something important in their camp or the system was just messing with me.

Nodding to myself, I finally rested my head on the ground and slowly fell asleep. My hiding place should be enough for now.

* * *

Judging from the sun's position, I woke up pretty late. Thankfully, I was already used to sleeping on the hard ground, so any discomforts were no longer troubling me. Of course, that didn't mean I would refuse a soft bed. No, my human side still longed for some of the comforts from my old life.

After stretching my body and scanning the nearby area for any threats, I called Bob back to me so I could ask about his findings.

Like yesterday Bob didn't find anything noteworthy, so I just sent him back on the hunt.

Now, I could do a few things. Go and search for any tracks myself, train my abilities, or kill the Grimm that were getting close to the village. After some thought, I decided on the first option. After all, it would be a lot easier if my map was uncovered in the area where my quest would be taking place. Maybe I would get lucky and find the bandits without the whole investigation. It would save a lot of time for sure.

If that didn't work, then I would just visit the village again. Of course, I would go there after the sun went down, but a bit earlier than yesterday. I needed information from someone who wasn't completely drunk.

Shaking my head to clear it out of those thoughts, I flew into the air and opened my map. Thankfully, it was linked with Bob so at least I already knew where he'd been to. I really didn't want to fly in circles.

* * *

"Amara managed to make it back today with her kids. Unfortunately, Russ didn't make it..." one of the females spoke sadly.

Currently, I was back in the city. It was already dark, but I managed to find some people who still enjoyed the chill weather outside. In most cases, they didn't have anything useful to say or I just couldn't get close enough without them noticing me, but I finally found a small group that had some good information.

"If it wasn't for Russ' military training they would all probably be gone. At least the kids still have their mother," another older woman spoke more calmly, but I could feel the anger coming from her.

A bitter chuckle left another female's lips, "Not that it will do her or us any good. We all know that with our current situation we'll be overrun by Gimm sooner or later. The guards are already reporting higher amounts of Grimm nearby. Anywhere we go we're in danger."

She was right. I would probably give them another ten or so days before the Grimm finally attacked. I knew that they could kill the weaker ones, but when anything stronger came, the whole village would fall. Very natural occurrence considering that even in canon they spoke of villages that were overrun, and then rebuilt a few years after.

"At least now we know to never go anywhere near Crowstar. We should've expected those bastards would make their base there," the first female spoke again and I finally had what I wanted.

I knew that Crowstar was another village that wasn't too far from here. I still didn't visit it, but I saw some signs that pointed in its direction. I was planning to go there tomorrow, but now that I knew for sure so there was no time to waste. I wanted to see if this trail would lead anywhere.

**[Objectives Updated]**

**Man or a monster.**

**Objective 1: Investigate the rumors you heard in the village (Complete)**

**Objective 2: Investigate Crowstar**

**Objective 3:?**

_So the quest agrees with the rumors. Good, I was getting frustrated from all the sneaking around. Now, where was the village again?_

* * *

Crowstar was further away than I thought. It was good thinking on my part to leave Bob near the village as I was pretty sure the Wyvern would slow me down in this situation. Plus, I really didn't need him for a small investigation, I wasn't planning on fighting anything for now.

It was still the middle of the night when I landed near the entrance of the ruined village. It was pretty small, and from my observations, I wasn't really surprised that it was destroyed. How a village like this was supposed to survive when it didn't even have walls to defend itself was beyond me. Sometimes people were really stupid.

My opinion aside, I really needed to find the place where the family was attacked. I was pretty sure that there would be bodies or some other signs left.

My night vision wasn't really helping, and after an hour or two of searching, I was really annoyed that I didn't have any ability that would help me with things like that. I thought about the Hunter pulse evolution, but then I realized that it was only supposed to sense live beings.

With a sigh, I closed the map and flew to the next part of the village. I wasn't sure what was here in the past as I only saw a building that was crushed to pieces now, but before long I finally spotted what I was searching for.

Three adult human bodies.

This sight was something completely new for me. I might have been a Grimm for some time already, but I never had much contact with humans in this world. Of course, I've killed plenty of Grimm and have never felt anything after the act, and to be honest, I didn't feel anything now.

I didn't know if I was just messed up after the world jump or if Gamer's mind was causing my indifference. When I was flying in this direction I was expecting to find some bodies, but I never thought about how I would react when I found them.

And now as I was standing before them, I was completely calm. No fear, no awe, no curiosity. Just nothing.

_I guess this whole world jumping experience really messed me up,_ I thought with a small chuckle. Maybe it was better this way, because I really doubted that the Game would help me here.

Finally, I rid myself of those thoughts and slowly moved towards the bodies. Thankfully, they were still mostly fresh. So at least I didn't have to suffer from the smell.

After a quick observation, I quickly found out which bodies belonged to bandits and which was the Russ guy I'd heard about.

The bandits were obviously killed with a few shots from the pistol I found near Russ - the bullet wounds were quite easy to spot -, but the civilian while also being shot a few times, was killed by some kind of blade if the large stab wound was anything to go by.

Now this was interesting, as I was pretty sure that those two bandits couldn't have done that. A quick look around confirmed my thoughts as I found a trail of blood that led away from the small battlefield.

I quickly hid the lying firearms in my inventory before following the trail - they could be useful and I was not leaving them here.

The trail led me to one of the buildings that were still mostly intact. As I expected, inside I found another body. By the looks of it, the guy had probably died not that long ago from his wounds.

That was pretty bad, with the last bandit dead, I had no way of finding their base. I already tried to search through them in hopes that maybe they had a map on them, but they obviously weren't stupid enough to carry something like that with them.

Hell, they didn't even have a scroll...

Frustrated, I left the building and flew to the highest place that had a clear view of the small battlefield. For now, I would stay here and hope that the other bandits would come here to find out what happened to their people.

_I hate this quest..._

* * *

Thankfully, I only needed to wait another day for someone to show up. That was good, because I was already planning to move the next day. I only had so much patience, and this quest was quickly draining it.

The group of five were all obviously bandits, considering they were dressed pretty similarly to their dead comrades, and I wasn't expecting anyone else to appear. The people from the village were too scared, and I didn't see another village anywhere nearby.

The bandits did their own small investigation, and for a moment I wasn't sure if they noticed the lack of weapons on any of the bodies. I might've acted too hastily with my looting...

Thankfully, they either didn't notice or just didn't care about the weapons. They realized that the dead group failed their task, and before I knew it they were walking away.

The moment I activated all of my stealth abilities and began to follow them, I knew that I was progressing.

**[Objectives Updated]**

**Man or a monster.**

**Objective 1: Investigate the rumors you heard in the village (Complete)**

**Objective 2: Investigate Crowstar (Complete)**

**Objective 3: Follow the bandits to their base without being noticed**

**Objective 4:?**

_Finally, I really hope that I'm nearing the end of this quest._

* * *

I definitely didn't expect this.

The bandit camp was huge. Well maybe I was overreacting a bit, but for bandits, it was very big. In my travels through Remnant, I saw a few bandit camps and they were never that large.

Most camps numbered in twenty bandits or so, but here I counted at least fifty, and I was sure that I didn't spot all as there were plenty of tents around that could hide even more of them. Of course, I also spotted the wooden cages that had children and a few older women inside. I couldn't get the exact number as they were shielded from my view, and I couldn't get a good read with my sensing skills.

With the use of 'observe' I got a read on most of the things and people in the camp. None of them were highly ranked, but I knew that with their numbers even I would have a problem with them. Apart from that, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do now.

I knew that a small part of me wanted to free the children, but the other, larger part knew it was a risk that could end poorly. For both me and the prisoners. It was the next quest update that gave me a small push.

**[Objectives Updated]**

**Man or a monster.**

**Objective 1: Investigate the rumors you heard in the village (Complete)**

**Objective 2: Investigate Crowstar (Complete)**

**Objective 3: Follow the bandits to their base without being noticed (Complete)**

**Objective 4:**

**Choice 1: Get rid of the leaders of the camp and take control of it. Ignore the victims.**

**Choice 2: Kill all of the bandits and save the victims.**

**Choice 3: Walk away and inform a huntsman of the kidnappings and give them a lead to the camp.**

**Choice 4: Slaughter everything. Show them who the real monster is.**

**Warning: This is the culmination of the chain quest. Your choice will decide not only your rewards, but also your fate. Choose wisely, as once you decide, there is no turning back.**

That was another thing I didn't expect. The game said something about my choices, but this was something entirely different. Immediately after I read all of the choices, I knew that number four and one wouldn't work for me.

The fourth choice was something I definitely couldn't do. I didn't go through this boring quest only to come here and kill the children I wanted to save. I might've been a monster now, but I would never fall so low as to go against my own morals. I wasn't a butcher that would slaughter innocent children without a reason.

Then there was the first choice. Kill the leader and ignore the victims. Again, I would be going against myself. Of course, I could probably free the prisoners later, but why would I need a camp of idiotic bandits. They were of no use to me. I had Bob, and the Wyvern was all I needed for now.

The third choice was definitely something that I could do if I wanted to stay away from any fighting. But that sounded like something a coward would do. Besides, I was pretty sure that the reward wouldn't be too good if I chose this way.

And that finally left path number two. Exterminate the bandits, then save the children... It was probably the choice that every character I read about would take without a second thought. Well maybe they would knock those idiots out instead of killing them, but I knew that here it wouldn't work.

It was pretty funny, I'd never really thought about killing humans before. After all, deep down, I was still one of them, at least partially. But this wasn't my old world. No, the situation in Remnant was much worse. Grimm running around killing everyone, and humans fighting between themselves.

_Stupid thing to do when they have a common enemy, but that's the human race for you,_ I thought bitterly.

Meanwhile, Salem and Ozpin have been fighting a secret war against each other for years... Really, how much worse could people get. It was no surprise that Vale fell so easily when Salem finally began the execution of her plans. She was prepared when others were fighting like idiots.

_I really should stop thinking about this. I have a decision to make._

The second choice was really the only way. I couldn't just walk away, I needed to do it myself. If I was to survive and grow stronger then I would probably kill again. Maybe in the future, I could try to change something in this fucked up world, and I was pretty sure that many would stay in my way.

If I could, I would probably smile as I finally understood another bit of my new life. It wasn't easy, but with time even I would find my place.

* * *

The darkness of the night once again fell on Remnant as I waited for the ideal time to strike. I already ordered Bob to come here so I could have at least some backup. I knew that I could do it, but some help to cover my weak spots would be nice.

The bandits had weapons, but I knew it wasn't likely that one of them could get past my armor, and even if they did I had aura to protect me. Still, I wanted to avoid a bigger fight, and use stealth to deal with at least a few of them.

After observing the camp and its defenses for the whole day, I was pretty sure that with Bob's help I would be able to take out the guards without any bigger problems. The camp had small wooden walls all around it with four watchtowers at every corner.

Now the only thing left to do was to give Bob orders that the Wyvern would hopefully listen to. This would either go very well, or completely fuck up my whole plan.

Thankfully the Grimm understood me - I really hoped so -, and now I was just waiting for the guard to change shifts. It wouldn't be good if I killed the guards only for more to check on them a minute later.

Finally, the time came, and with a quick mental command, both Bob and I flew to the positions I prepared earlier. With another order, we flew into the air and descended upon our respective tower guards.

I used my spikes to instantly pierce the guard in every vital point I knew of. The man never stood a chance, and fell to the ground dead.

I killed my first person ever, but like with the bodies, there wasn't a special reaction to the act. I didn't freeze, I didn't cry, and I definitely didn't abandon my plans. I was quite sure that this time it was the work of the Gamer's mind, as I didn't think I could just go through something like this without reaction. Not even with my change into a Grimm.

Even then I knew that now wasn't the time for such thoughts, and I focused on the task at hand.

With a quick look to the other side, I confirmed that Bob had taken care of the other guard and was already making his way towards the next tower. I did the same and flew behind the walls. Then, as with the previous guard, I used my spikes to kill him when he had his back turned to me.

With the tower guards gone, I mentally told Bob to wait for my command.

The camp was still completely oblivious to what would happen to them in the nearest hour, and I planned to use stealth for as long as I could. Even if in the back of my mind I knew that my own skill would be enough to slaughter them all in an open fight.

From there I descended into the camp under the cover of darkness. With my stealth skills, the coloring of my scales, and the time of the day, nobody ever saw me when I snuck behind someone and thrust my tail into their hearts. There were times when I used my jaws to tear the bandit's throat out, but I preferred to avoid it as much as I could. Even Gamer's mind couldn't get rid of the disgust I felt when I performed kills like this.

It really was a slaughter, even if I didn't want to acknowledge the fact.

Finally, someone came out from one of the tents and saw a body that was almost out in the open. A moment later, the whole camp was moving and I quickly gave Bob instructions to be ready when I was spotted.

I used the chaos and killed another few bandits with well-aimed spikes, but this action also revealed my position. Finally spotted, I flew into the air and began my final attack. At the same time, Bob jumped out of the tower and already dealt with two bandits with his superior speed.

The next few minutes were mixed with sounds of gunfire, curses, and agonizing screams. Both Bob and I flew around the camp killing bandit after the bandit, never leaving one alive when we struck. Now I definitely knew that it was a slaughter, but there was no stopping it. I started it, so I would end it.

There were only a few bandits left when one of them ran at me with speeds that definitely shouldn't be possible for a normal thug. With a quick 'observe' I instantly knew what was happening.

**Scar, Academy Dropout lvl: 9**

**HP: 200**

**MP: 750**

**Tier: D-**

**Additional Info: One of the leaders of human trafficking rings in Vale, limited intelligence, lack any formal fighting style**

That was expected, and I knew that the guy couldn't do anything against me with his rusty sword and average gun. My armor might not be strong yet, but he would need to be an experienced fighter to kill me with that equipment.

To avoid his stupid charge I flew higher and send a volley of spike spears at him. The guy had at least enough intelligence in him to dodge, but I still managed to hit him a few times. His aura took the damage and slowly went down. It was definitely interesting to see how my abilities matched against aura.

The academy dropout definitely wasn't in the right state of mind, attacking recklessly and without any care for his own defense. I quickly reduced his aura to a hundred points, then landed to finish the fight.

Bob already dealt with the rest of the bandits and the prisoners couldn't see me. I let myself activate my aura and prepared to use my first dragon punch with my wings against a human.

Scar's eyes widened as I closed the distance in an instant and thrust my wing at his chest.

The power was too much to handle for Scar's aura and it instantly disappeared. Without any defense, my right wing tore right through the dropout's body and he was sent flying to the ground a few feet away from me. His bones cracking if the sounds were anything to go by.

The man coughed out some blood as I approached, finally realizing that it was his end, he croaked out, "What the hell are you?"

I raised the tip of my tail above his heart and answered, shocking him even more, "To you and your little band? A monster," and with that, I pierced his heart, finally finishing this short fight.

That moment made me realize that it was finally the end. The whole camp was silent - if you ignored the silent sobbing of the prisoners -, in this single moment the realization of what I'd done had finally hit me, and I again could feel my emotions again.

Guilt, disgust, and even some anger. I knew that it was normal, after all, who could have done something like this for the first time and just walk away without a care in the world. Evidently not me...

I breathed slowly, in and out a few times to calm myself and gather my thoughts. The fight might be over but I still had a few things to do.

I quickly ordered Bob to fly away and hide in our previous spot, and after that I went to work. I already heard multiple notifications from before, and after a quick look, I saw a few level-ups and some other less important things.

I went through the camp as quickly as I could, gathering everything that could be of use to me. Be it weapons, money, or even some dust. I was really curious about what I would be able to do with the last one.

It was probably weird that I would be looting before freeing the prisoners, but I really didn't want them to see a Grimm looking through human things. They would probably see me when I freed them, and that was enough. Not that anyone would believe that a Grimm freed them.

It took me quite some time to go through the whole camp, but when I was done the night was coming to an end. With my task complete, I finally turned to the cages that held the prisoners and thought about how exactly I wanted to do this.

With the cages being covered, I could probably escape quick enough so they wouldn't ever notice me after their cages were opened. As I knew that adults were there, I hoped that they would be able to lead them to the village while I protected them from any Grimm on their way. After all, I didn't save them only for some Grimm to kill them...

After I finally decided on a course of action, I called Bob to me and slowly told him what he needed to do. There were too many cages for me to open them fast enough and escape.

The Wyvern thankfully understood the simple instruction, and on my sign, we quickly destroyed the locks to every door. Then I quickly hid behind another tent while Bob flew away.

The older females and multiple children slowly and hesitantly left the cages and took a look around. In this single moment, I realized that maybe leaving multiple bodies lying around wasn't the best idea.

_Yep, I definitely could've planned this better. Well, too late now..._

Thankfully, the older members of the group gathered themselves and quickly led the group out. Some even took the few weapons I left lying around. Smart, even if the chances of them surviving out there without me were very small. They were a bundle of negative energy after all, and I was sure that the Grimm would love to attack them.

Just as I was preparing myself to follow the group from above, I felt something tugging at my tail. Confused, I quickly turned around.

There, hugging my tail was a girl no older than ten. Even though she was younger, I instantly recognized her when I saw the half pink, half brown hair, and the pair of mismatched eyes looking straight at me.

_You have got to be kidding me! What the hell is a young NEO doing here! Wait! Is she even called Neo already? Doesn't matter, what the fuck GAME!?_


	9. Moving on

_I am definitely raising my luck after this shit. What the fuck am I supposed to do with a kid who looks at me like a big teddy bear, when I am the closest thing to a monster in this world?_

That was the main thought running through my head as I watched young Neo hold my tail very tightly. How the girl was so strong I would never know. It was just another of those mysteries of the world that you would never solve.

Like really what choices did I have now?

I could A. Reveal my ability to talk and try to explain to her why she should run after the rest of the women. This option would be probably the best, but I had no clue if the girl would even listen to me. After all, she had the balls to hug a Grimm who slaughtered the whole bandit camp.

Or B. I could fly away and leave her here to die. We all probably saw the problem with this idea huh? I mean I didn't save those people to now leave the kid so she would die from Grimm or again get kidnapped by other bandits. Besides it was Neo, I mean almost everyone liked her in the show. She probably was a bit mentally unstable but was one of the better characters. It would be a shame to let her die.

I really needed to hurry with my decision before the bundle of negativity that just left the camp would get slaughtered by Grimm.

With a heavy sigh, I looked at the young child and spoke... I would probably regret this choice later on, "Alright kid, that's enough. Why the hell are you not with the group?"

Neo's head snapped up so fast that I thought it would fly away. She looked at me with wide eyes and I couldn't help but snort, "Yeah I can talk. The question is can you?"

The girl even though she was still shocked, shook her head, and pointed at her throat. Great... She already lost her voice or never really had it. This would make this conversation a lot harder.

"That's inconvenient," I sighed again and walked into one of the tents with Neo still following me. I guess even a talking Grimm couldn't scare her off. Thankfully inside I found what I wanted, "Do you know how to write?" at a small nod I continued, "Great, then take this notebook and pen, and please tell me why the hell are you still here?"

Ignoring the incredulity of this entire situation - really a conversation between a Grimm and little girl? - I was getting slightly annoyed and wanted to deal with this as fast as I could."

Thankfully the girl was quick to write, " _I saw you kill all of them. You are strong so it is safer with you._ "

That was her reason? Really? I was a fucking Grim, I could have just killed her. Besides how the hell did she see me? I was sure that I got out of sight after I opened the cages. I voiced my opinion and Neo was quick to answer.

" _I was in one of the tents. Apparently they were preparing me for their next transaction. And I knew that you wouldn't kill me because you saved the prisoners. No Grimm would do that,_ " she showed the note to me and grinned. Cheeky brat.

Still, she had me there. I saved the prisoners so there was a chance that I wouldn't kill her after she showed herself to me. And apparently choosing Grimm as your survival method instead of other humans made sense to the crazy girl.

"And what do you expect to happen now? I am a Grimm and you can't go with me. Better run fast so you can join the rest," I said as I began to walk out of the tent. Unfortunately, I was stopped... well not stopped but interrupted by Neo holding tightly to my tail again.

"For Gods' sake girl! You are not going with me!" Neo only hugged me tighter and I whined pitifully. Why couldn't I be some cold-hearted bastard that would just leave her and be done with this? Like I said I was already regretting my previous decision.

_Bob! Get your ass here, fast!_ I commanded through my link. I had no time to bargain with an annoying child. It had already been a few minutes and soon the prisoners would get attacked.

Thankfully Bob arrived a few seconds later, scaring Neo a bit, "Look brat. This is my second in command," give him an important title so Neo would believe that he was strong even though Bob was a dumb idiot, "He will stay here with you while I go and escort the freed prisoners to their village. I will come back and then we will talk about what to do with you. Is it acceptable?"

Neo hesitantly nodded after a moment even though she was still visibly scared of Bob. Well, tough luck as I was already flying away. She had Bob and enough food to survive there.

At least I hoped so...

* * *

It took the whole day. The whole fucking day of flying around the group and killing weak Grimm left and right. It was the most monotonous task I had done in this world. The Grimm were weak, but there were so many of them that I didn't even get a break for a minute. At least I leveled a lot of skills or at least I think I did from the number of notifications I heard during the flight.

After we reached the village I instantly left them and began flying back to the camp. Those people were no longer my problem and their survival depended only on them. I did my job and thanks to their arrival the number of negative emotions lowered a bit, so they had a chance.

I arrived back at the camp when it was already dark, but I saw Bob lying before one of the tents, chewing on a human leg that was probably cut off during our attack.

I ignored the feeling of disgust and asked, "You didn't kill her right?"

Bob dipped his head to the side with the leg still in his mouth and I couldn't stop the groan that escaped my mouth, _Why do I even bother? Of course, it wouldn't understand when I ask about something important._

Stepping through the tent's entrance, I instantly noticed Neo lying on a dirty mattress. She was already looking at me and had her notebook and pen in hand. At least she knew that she would need it.

I sat down - or at least tried to, it didn't work the best with a draconic body - and addressed the girl, "Before we begin. What is your name and how old are you?"

Confirmation about her age and name would be useful and satiate my curiosity. Neo was a bit surprised by the question but answered nonetheless, " _Neo, and I am eleven almost twelve_."

Huh. So I was a bit off about her age, but that wasn't surprising when you take into consideration how she looked. Neo was short even in canon and she was a grown-up woman in the show.

Now for the question that would hopefully fix this whole mess, "Do you have family or even friends that could take care of you?"

And she shook her head. Of course, she did, why would it ever be easy.

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do with you? You can't go with me, the wild is no place for a little girl and I would like to point this out again. I. Am. A. Grimm," I was getting really frustrated, I could take her to one of the major cities, but the brat would probably disagree again. I was really rethinking my decision on just leaving her.

" _Train me_ _,_ " she scribbled down.

"What?" I said incredulously. Neo again pointed at her writing, "I understand what you mean, but it doesn't make any sense! How many times do I need to tell you that I am a Grimm? I don't fight like humans, so I can't teach you shit," I almost screamed at the end.

Neo again began writing, " _I don't care. Train me. I don't want to be helpless again._ "

This time I screamed. Gods, it was some sort of stupid kid logic right? Where they ignore everything you say and wouldn't stop until you agree. I really couldn't teach her anything with my current form apart from some things about Aura.

I knew that Neo wouldn't accept anything else so I could either leave her here to death or agree to her demands. There was also the third option where I grab the girl and then drop her near Vale or any other village, but this could create many problems that would bite me in the ass later.

The choice was unfortunately obvious as I already said that I wouldn't let her die. But if Neo thought that she would always get what she wanted, then the girl was very, very wrong.

"Okay brat. I will take you with me," the girl instantly smiled widely, "But if you really want this then I have a few rules that you will abide by. One, you will listen to everything I say and there is no way around this rule. If you break it, then I will just drop you off at the nearest village. Two, there will be no whining about our accommodations. Three, you won't ask questions about my abilities. And finally four. You will only stay with me for the next two months. I will teach you what I can, which isn't much. And after that, you are going back to civilization where you won't tell anybody about me. Do you understand? You either take this offer or I leave you here."

Neo definitely wasn't happy with the deal, but when given an ultimatum her choice was also obvious as she nodded in agreement.

"Great," I would clap my hands if I had them, "Do you know what Scroll is?" a nod, "Then go around the camp and try to find some. Bob will watch you so don't worry about anything."

Yes, I just sent an eleven-year-old girl on a loot run in a bandit camp full of dead bodies. Not my problem, Neo made her choice and I was going to use it. I was fine with dropping the brat near other humans, but she chose to stick with me. She will need to adapt which probably wouldn't be too hard. After all, the girl was mad enough to follow Grimm.

I chuckled lightly and began my own task. I only looted the most important things, but there was still something I could get from this camp.

Information.

If they didn't have Scrolls then I would probably find something in the stacks of papers I saw in a few tents.

_It is gonna take a while…_

* * *

The problem with pseudo-adopting a young girl?

Taking care of her. Like I had some experience with looking after kids that my family had, but this was a completely different situation. I wasn't human any longer, we were in a world infested with deadly creatures that just waited to kill us all and Neo wasn't exactly your everyday kid.

At least food and water wouldn't be a problem. I didn't really need it, but a normal human would just die after some time. That was why after I collected every important file I could find, I searched the camp for any food provisions and then put it all in my inventory. If I ran out of it before it was time for Neo to go, I would just hunt some wildlife. There was plenty of it in this world. The only problem would be with preparing it.

Oh well, I was sure either I or Neo would figure it out... probably.

The next problem was a bit more simple but still troublesome. Where should I take Neo?

I needed some temporary base, a place where I could come back to after a long trip. Unfortunately as a Grimm, it was pretty hard to find a suitable place that would be able to be good for me and a human that needed much more than me to survive. That was another reason why I put into my inventory more things that would help with that.

All in all, with my inventory stocked, I was pretty sure that Neo would stay alive for those two months. At least when I finally found a place to rest.

My map around Vale was mostly uncovered and I really wanted to be close to the city just in case I needed to drop off the little girl. Thankfully before Neo came back with three Scrolls I already decided where we would go.

The big mountain range to the east of Vale.

Even if I didn't visit this place yet, I knew that it was there. I really hoped that the territory there wouldn't have anything too dangerous. I also doubted that it was the warmest place on Remnant, but I could deal with that later. I had enough problems as it was.

Surprisingly it wasn't a problem to get Neo to sit on my back and hold very tightly to my spikes. Thankfully she was very small and even I could carry her without bigger problems. If I didn't level up a few times during this mission then I probably would have more problems with carrying her. I was getting close to the size of a small horse, hopefully, the next evolution would give me another boost.

Fortunately, the bandit camp was quite close to the mountain range. We managed to arrive in the new territory after about half a day. I needed to take breaks every hour or two, but I didn't expect Neo to last on my back without any stop. At least she didn't take a long time to recover and wasn't against me flying quite fast. I wasn't too worried about her falling down as Bob was always under me just in case.

Not that I trusted the moronic subordinate to catch Neo, but it was always something...

To my surprise, the new territory was very friendly and I thought that it would make a good base even in the future. But there was one thing that I didn't understand about it.

**[Number 9: Mountains of Vale (No man's land)**

**Requirements to conquer:**

**-Exterminate individual number of Grimm (0/50)]**

_No man's land? Game? A little explanation would be nice._

**[It is very simple, really.**

**As you know all of Remnant was divided into territories. Most of them are controlled by humans/fanus or Salem/Grimm. But there is another very small category that you just found.**

**No man's land is a territory that even though will most likely have Grimm, there won't be many of them, and killing them won't notify Salem. You can easily conquer those territories, but unlike other major lands, those won't give you any benefits apart from anonymity.**

**After conquering it, the Grimm will stay away from you, but you won't be able to control them like in other major territories.]**

_That's... helpful. The anonymity part is going to be very useful and at least I won't have a problem with keeping the Grimm away from my base. Anyway, thanks Game._

**[Yea, yea. Now hurry up with finding a place to rest, the brat is almost falling asleep.]**

I craned my neck to look at my back and saw that yes, Neo was slowly falling asleep. That was not good. I better hurry, I wouldn't want to rest in the open.

* * *

It wasn't easy to find a perfect place for a temporary or even permanent base, but I did it. It was good that I did it this fast as Neo instantly fell asleep when I landed. How the girl managed to be comfortable to sleep on my scaled back, I would never know.

Our new home was a cave. No surprise there.

Thankfully it wasn't too high in the mountains, so it wasn't too cold and Neo shouldn't have any problems reaching it after I showed her a few things she could do with aura.

The opening was big enough for me even if I grew a bit and from what I saw, the cave was quite long and big. The first large chamber would be enough for us now, but if I decided to make it my permanent base, then I would probably expand into the other tunnels. The only problem would be making this place secure, but that again could wait for later...

Yeah, the number of things to do later was getting bigger and bigger.

With Neo asleep, I used this time to take out most things from my inventory that the girl would need to survive. There wasn't that much of it, but if the bandits managed to survive with this then the mad girl should too.

Next on my list of things to do was quick scouting of the cave to check if any Grimm were deeper inside.

Unsurprisingly I didn't find anything so I went back to check on Neo. I hoped that she would still be asleep in the tent I took from the camp as I still had some things to do.

Thankfully she still was so I sat down at the entrance to the cave and finally checked my notifications. And boy there was a lot of it.

**[Logs:**

**-Quest: Man or a monster. Completed**

**-You leveled up 5 times**

**-You now have 90 SP and 21 EP available**

**-'Flight Mastery' is now at the maximum level (25)**

**-'Aura' is now level 24**

**-'Spike Spears' is now level 18**

**-'Stealth' is now level 34**

**-Rewards for clearing the temporary territory were added to your inventory]**

_Yeah, that's a lot of EPs. It is a pity that 'Flight Mastery' doesn't have any additional bonus, but I should have expected that. Now let's see what the quest gave me._

**[Quest Chain Completed]**

**Man or a monster.**

**All objectives finished successfully.**

**You choose path number 2. Good luck**

**Rewards:**

**Choice 1: 4 EP, Free Evolution: Monstrous human form, 12k EXP, 10k Lien, 5 random stat crystals (Failed)**

**Choice 2: 6 EP, Free Evolution: Mostly human form, 15k EXP, 5k Lien, 3 random stat crystals (Completed)**

**Choice 3: 3 EP, Free Evolution: Limited human form, 8k EXP, 1k Lien, 1 random stat crystals (Failed)**

**Choice 4: 8 EP, Evolution permanently locked: Human form, 25k EXP, 5k Lien, 2 random stat crystals, Title: Butcher (Failed)**

_Holy shit! So that's why I leveled so many times and have so much EP. And a free evolution that will finally fix some of my problems, though I wonder what the 'mostly' part means. Oh well, I will find out when I finally evolve and with the amount of EP I have, I could do this even tomorrow._

My status page was already looking a lot better with all the level ups and additional stats I gained during my fights in those past two days. To think that a quest like that would change so much, so quick. It was almost unbelievable, especially the human form.

It was something that I really needed if I wanted to at least have some normal encounters with humans and fanus. It would let me use my Lien, but it wasn't as important, even if now I had a lot of it.

With a shake of my head, I closed the notifications and decided to check the inventory. After all, the system said that it added some items there, besides I wanted to use the stat crystals and see what other items from my looting were there.

Money, food, basic weapons - firearms and melee alike - were there, but I also spotted the two crates of dust crystals. I wanted to see what I could do with them, but it wasn't too important now and could wait a few days. Besides, experimenting with dust probably wasn't the best idea when I was still in my temporary home...

_Yeah, just leave it for now._

With normal items checked, I moved onto the stat crystals. I must have dropped one from somewhere as I saw that I had four in the inventory. Without much thought, I crushed them with my wing.

**You have gained the following stats:**

**\+ 5 DEX**

**\+ 5 STR**

**\+ 10 VIT**

**[1st STR milestone: +5% damage when using weapons and limbs**

**1st VIT milestone: +10% Max HP]**

_Okay, not bad. The milestone boosts are definitely nice, but I really wanted more INT and WIS. Gods know I need it._

**[Agree.]**

_No one asked you_ , I answered automatically. At this point, I already expected those comments. At least it was never boring with the Game.

Snorting quietly I let my gaze finally fall on a skill book that wasn't previously in my inventory. Definitely a surprise as it was a long time since I received one of those. Hopefully, it would be useful.

**[New Skill learned.]**

**[Soul Drain (Active) LVL: 1 (0%)**

**Aura is the manifestation of one's soul and now you can steal it from other beings to recover your MP at a very quick rate. Requires constant physical contact and focus. This ability is very easy to interrupt. Warning: Target will die if you drain them dry.**

**-Effect: Drains 50 MP/s from your target]**

Well, I didn't really know how it would be useful to me. The number of beings I fought that had aura was very small. It would probably become useful later on or after it was somehow upgraded, but for now, I couldn't see how to apply it in my current situation.

With everything finally under control I brought up my status screen.

**Name: Umbra**

**Race: Soul Grimm**

**Title: Young Grimm**

**Level: 17 (4780/7500)**

**Evolution Stage: Draconic 2 (100%)**

**HP: 1635**

**MP: 1295**

**STR: 28 + (25%) = 35**

**VIT: 33 + (25%) = 41.25**

**DEX: 37 + (25%) = 46.25**

**INT: 23 + (50%) = 34.5**

**WIS: 23 + (50%) = 34.5**

**LUC: 15**

**Elemental Affinity:**

**SP: 90 | EP: 21**

**Lien: 25801**

Yep, I was progressing quite nicely. I didn't really know how strong were the higher tier opponents, but I was still happy with what I achieved in those few weeks. Now that another evolution was waiting for me I knew that I would only get stronger. There was also the human form that I couldn't wait to test out.

So much to do. Thankfully those two months with Neo should give me enough time to deal with the changes that would come after my evolution and the long list of things to do that I gathered during my travels...

_I really need to stop putting things away for later. It is gonna bite me in the ass one day._

* * *

Unfortunately, I didn't get a moment of free time to evolve during the next day. Neo insisted that I at least teach her something, so we began with Aura. I wasn't surprised that hers was already unlocked. I had a feeling that her Semblance was also already available, as I didn't believe that she would be able to sneak up on me without it.

Neo didn't know how to access it so she most likely used it subconsciously when she was high on emotions. I was alright with that. It was embarrassing enough to have an eleven-year-old unlock her Semblance faster than me.

Anyway... I showed the girl a few things she could do with Aura as she had almost no control over it. It took us most of the day to get down the basics before I left Neo alone so she could practice and I went to do some scouting of the area.

I found out that when I was at the highest point of the mountains, I was finally starting to get cold. That was good to know, now I was pretty sure that going to Atlas wouldn't be too comfortable.

Apart from that, I only found a few Grimm, that were really weak, probably weakened from the cold. Killing fifty of them would be a pain in the ass, as it took me a few hours to find only six and I didn't want to waste too much time hunting Grimm.

After I came back it was already dark and thankfully Neo was sleeping. As I already informed her that I had something to do and might not be here when she was up, I went further into the cave to find a place to evolve. Bob was guarding the cave so the girl was safe.

I found an average-sized chamber a few minutes later and there I finally made my decision.

**Your EP: 21 | Spent EP: 20**

**Chosen evolutions:**

**\- Armor (reinforced) | Cost: 3 EP | Bought: level 1**

**\- Predator's Eyes Lvl. 2 | Cost: 4 EP | Bought: level 1**

**\- Second pair of limbs | Cost: 4 EP**

**\- Lightning core |** **Cost: 3 EP**

**\- Faster growth | Cost: 1 EP**

**\- Hunter pulse | Cost: 2 EP**

**\- Free Evolution: Mostly human form**

**\- Climate Resistance: Cold | Cost: 3 EP**

**[Do you want to proceed with the evolution?]**

**Yes/No**

I had waited long enough for this moment and I got every evolution that I needed now. Now I just needed to press the button.

**[Evolution will begin now. Estimated time until completion: 9 hours.]**

And just like the last time the notification disappeared and darkness consumed me. I let the process flow through me with my mind free of any problems. Now I just needed to wait.

* * *

As the evolution finally finished and the cocoon of darkness disappeared, my gaze again settled on the empty cave chamber. I instantly noticed that I felt much different.

I was bigger, probably two times my previous size. A welcome surprise that was for sure. Now my fights in close quarters would be much easier if I was bigger than my opponents. The only downside of this change would be the decrease in my agility. It happened the last time so I expect it now. Oh well, nothing a few more points in dexterity wouldn't fix.

The next change that I almost instantly noticed was the addition of two new limbs. I quickly brought them before my eyes and saw that they looked just like I hoped.

They were about the same length as my back limbs, but their build was different. I could move them almost like a human could move their arms and my claws were capable of grabbing things. I was a bit worried that they would just be another pair of legs that wouldn't be too useful, but now I knew that with limbs like that, my combat capabilities would be higher.

Apart from that my vision was even better and I knew that I could activate the weak thermal vision with just a thought. I also felt the change in my aura that probably came from my new elemental affinity. I would definitely test it out after I got out of the cave, but for now, I wanted to see what the system got for me.

**[New skill acquired]**

**[Hunter pulse (Active) LVL: Max**

**The ability of any Alpha predator. Send a pulse of energy through the nearby territory in search of anything alive. Warning: Some creatures are capable of sensing the pulse, or hiding from it altogether.**

**-Range: 350 Feet]**

Pretty good range, got to admit that. I thought it would be half of that or even less, but I would take what they gave me.

_Alright next._

**[You gained your Main Element. Special tab has been added to the skill menu.]**

**[Lightning elemental (Passive/Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**You chose your element and lightning answered your call. You can now use pure lighting with your MP however you want (Some uses might still be unavailable, reach higher levels to unlock them). Higher mastery of this skill lowers the cost of using it and raises the damage dealt. Using this element has a small chance of paralyzing the target.**

**NOTICE: While you can control lightning almost as you wish, you can also create and unlock special attacks for better effects, damage, and lower costs.**

**-Damage: 50 BASE + INT x1.5 (Due to the nature of this element, armor can't lower its damage by more than 50%)**

**-Cost: Initial 50 MP, gets bigger with longer and bigger use**

**Special Attacks: Trap (Paralyzes the target for a small amount of time, Higher base damage), Lightning Stream (The lightning version of Fire breath, DMG depends on the MP input)]**

Now that was something I have been waiting for. The choice of the element was never hard. I always loved any lightning attacks and there was no way I would miss such an opportunity to use them myself. Besides now I could see that it definitely was a good choice even though the damage wasn't too high yet.

All the additional effects that Lighting granted me were definitely worth it, even if other elements would have higher damage output. I was also really glad that I could manipulate my element almost without any limits, and even those would probably be taken down after I leveled this skill.

Now all that was left for me to check was my human form.

_Game, some help? Evolution didn't tell me how to access it._

**[Right. Here you go, the basic tutorial to your human form.**

**Human transformation is now available to you. Using this function is quite simple as you only need to focus on taking the form and the system will do the rest. Remember your human appearance has been already chosen for you and you can't change it yet.**

**The change will also affect some aspects of your skills, stats, or evolutions. One, your STRENGTH will be halved in your human form. Two, some skills might work differently. Three, remember that you are still a Grimm and if you stay too long as a human, you might receive some negative temporary effects. And finally four, your armor mostly doesn't apply in human form so be careful.**

**Good luck.]**

_That simple huh? Some of the changes I expected, but the lowered strength wasn't too nice. Oh well, it is not like I will use my new form in a major fight._

As the system told me, I focused on the change and a moment later I felt my entire being shifting. I didn't see anything, as the transformation took away my sight, but thankfully it only lasted a moment before it finished and I was now standing in my new form.

It was definitely weird to again have a human body, but I still enjoyed the feeling. Or I would have enjoyed it if I didn't notice something very wrong with my new form.

_For fucks sake. Now I know what it meant by 'Mostly'..._


	10. Search and Destroy

If I had to be honest here, then I would without any doubt say that I didn't expect to get a human form that soon. Oh, I knew that I would gain it in the future. I possessed the gamer system and there wasn't much that it couldn't do.

So now that I finally evolved and transformed into my human form for the first time, my previous reaction was quite understandable. Even though I couldn't see my face or a few other parts of my body, I could perfectly see most parts of it.

Still, it wasn't even about seeing as I could _feel_ the difference between the normal human body and what I just gained. After all, I was a human once and if I remembered correctly I never had anything going out of my tailbone. I turned around and groaned at the sight of my new appendage lying behind me.

I had a fucking tail...

Yes, a goddamn tail, that was covered in pure black scales, was probably as long as my new body, and its end could probably skewer through things just like my original tail could. It lacked any spikes, but that wasn't surprising.

Now, this single addition wasn't too bad as I could just play it off as my fanus heritage and with a tail, I would be much deadlier in a fight. Tyrian looking at you here, you insane bastard.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the only change to my human form as I looked at my left arm.

Unlike my right arm, this one looked like it was taken straight from my dragon form and attached to the human body. Just like my tail, it was completely covered in black scales that went up to my shoulder. Instead of a normal human hand and fingers, I had five sharp claws. Thankfully it was capable of the same movement as my right hand and making a fist or grabbing things was still possible. There were also a few small spikes on it and I already knew that long sleeves just wouldn't work.

It also felt stronger than the rest of my human body, well except for the tail. I was curious if my scales meant that my armor still applied to my draconic arm and tail. It definitely would be useful in the future, even if hiding those transformed appendages would be a pain in the ass.

I had some ideas for clothing that would make it possible, but I would need to gather more human clothes to make it happen. For now, the clothes I gathered from bandits should be enough.

And yes I was still a male. It was the first thing I checked, thank you very much. Even though I was a Grimm now, it didn't mean that I would be alright with a sudden change to my gender.

It took me a few minutes to find clothes that would suit me, but in the end, I geared myself in some old combat shoes, cargo pants that needed some modification for my tail, and a shirt that barely fit me. It also didn't help that I almost shredded the clothing when I tried to put it on using my draconic arm.

"Alright, let's see the face," I murmured after I brought out another Scroll from my inventory.

My voice also went through a small change. In my dragon form, it was always rough and a bit higher. Now though it was much softer, at least I still sounded like a normal adult male. It even reminded me a bit of my old voice. Oh well...

I looked down at the confusing piece of technology in my hands and frowned. I didn't really know how to use it but, Neo showed me enough so accessing the camera shouldn't be that big of a problem.

It took me a few minutes, but finally, the light from the Scroll lit up almost half of the cave and for the first time in this life I got a look at my new human face. Got to say, I definitely didn't look bad.

If I had to guess from my appearance alone, this form was probably in its early twenties which would match my age before my death. My face was matured but it still showed signs of youth. My hair was black - no surprise here - and it was cut short, which I was thankful for. I hated having long hair, it only got in the way. Unfortunately, I had a short stubble growing on my face. Something to definitely get rid of as it would only annoy me.

There was one very interesting thing about my hair. Unlike in my last life, where my hair was always mostly soft when I ran a hard through it, this time it was almost rigid, like it was made of completely different material…

Right, "mostly human form".

Apart from that the rest of my facial features were normal. I still had the red eyes of my Grimm form, but they didn't really look that unnatural. Qrow and Raven had red eyes and no one questioned it so why should I worry?

I sighed lightly and returned the Scroll to my inventory. It was time to go back to Neo and surprise her with my change. It was a shame she couldn't talk as I was pretty sure that her reaction would be hilarious.

As I walked through the cave, I almost fell down a few times. I might have been a human once, but I was used to movement with Grimm's body and now I needed to get familiar with this new form. At least I knew how to control my tail…

* * *

I did fall down a few times… It was embarrassing and I was so glad that no one could see me. I really didn't expect this to be so hard. I was a human once for crying out loud.

Thankfully when I arrived in the main chamber of the cave I noticed it was empty. The sun was already up and some of its rays came through the cave's entrance. Hopefully, it would provide some warmth for Neo as after my evolution I couldn't care less about cold.

As Neo was still probably asleep a plan formed in my mind. With a grin, I walked towards the tent and almost shouted, "Wakey, wakey Neo! You slept enough and we have a lot to do today."

Instantly I heard something shifting inside the tent and a moment later Neo stuck her head outside while rubbing her eyes from sleep. The moment she set her gaze on me, her mouth and eyes opened wide, before she backtracked inside the tent.

I laughed loudly at the little girl's reaction. Gods, I am a mean bastard.

I probably shouldn't have introduced my new form like that, but I couldn't help myself. I didn't get much entertainment nowadays, so I wasn't going to miss such an occasion.

"Neo," I called out one more time, "Come on, it is me Umbra. I know it might sound and look unbelievable, but it is really me, I just gained a new... body."

For a moment I thought that I would need and get her out by force - and wouldn't that be interesting. Thankfully a minute or so later, Neo came out from the tent with her face set in a frown, and in her hands was a Scroll that showed only one word.

" _Explain._ "

Now I could completely ignore her and go on my merry way, which shouldn't surprise Neo as I stated in my rules that there wouldn't be any questions about my abilities. But I guess showing up in a completely different body deserved at least some explanation. After all, I was going to live with her for the next few weeks, so some trust between us would certainly be useful.

"I told you that I won't talk about my abilities," Neo instantly went to write something, but I stopped her with a raised hand, "But, I am willing to at least partially explain how I became this," I said motioning to my body.

This apparently placated the girl and she put away the Scroll and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"As you can see, I gained the body of a human... well mostly. My main form is still the Grimm form you are familiar with, but thanks to my ability to 'evolve', I can gain abilities that other Grimm could only dream of. Don't ask me why I can do this as even I am not sure. I am just happy to not be another of those mindless beasts," I explained as best as I could. Apart from my ability to evolve, I didn't give her anything important.

I wasn't sure if my explanation worked as Neo only furrowed her brow in thought and didn't even try to write anything on her Scroll.

Finally, after a minute of just staring at each other, the girl sighed and finally typed something on the Scroll, " _So now that you are human we can learn together?_ "

I shrugged, "I guess so. I need to learn how to use this form but remember that being a Grimm is more natural for me, so I won't stay in this body for too long," I paused for a moment and looked around, "Alright go and change. I want to test a few things so we will be going outside for some time."

The girl smiled widely at my announcement. Staying too long in a cave probably wasn't right with her... Not that I could blame her, but she was safer here and before she learned how to defeat some low ranked Grimm by herself, she wasn't going outside without me or Bob. If I was going to take care of her, I would at least make sure that she survived.

Still, I wouldn't be held responsible for her mental health when I would be done with her. No really, I couldn't be sure what her mental state would be after living with a weird Grimm in the wild for a few months.

With a shake of my head, I cleared my mind and transformed into my Grimm form. Oh, how good it felt to finally have four normal limbs.

Not much later Neo came out from her tent dressed in clothes that definitely didn't suit her, but would be perfect for today. Not that she really got any clothes that would be good for her, but now that I had a human form I could probably fix this problem with a visit to the nearest village. I just needed to find a way to hide my left arm.

The girl didn't even wait for me to say anything and just hopped onto my back. If she was surprised about my bigger form she didn't show it and just grabbed one of my spikes so she wouldn't fall.

At least she didn't try to complain that it was uncomfortable. I was not a horse and if someone ever tried to suggest making a saddle for me I would eat them alive. Mark my words.

With everything ready, I didn't wait any longer to leave the cave and fly into the sky. I already knew a good place for me to test a few things and if I was lucky then I might even encounter some Grimm for my experiments.

In the end, I was right and when we arrived in a forest clearing down in the mountains I already spotted a few Grimm around with my new Hunter Pulse. I was glad that it sensed Grimm even if their "alive" status was very questionable.

Now the question was, what should Neo do during the time I tested my new abilities?

I could have her train her Aura further, but that would be a waste of time as she could do that in our cave... It would be probably a good idea to start her on some physical training. I didn't know how well it would help her, but it definitely couldn't hurt.

Still, there was one more thing I could teach her - or try to teach as I never tried it - and it would let me check how armored my human form was.

Using guns that I looted from the bandits. It was a perfect idea, after all, what could go wrong when a twelve-year-old girl and a Grimm tried to use firearms for the first time in their life. I just hoped that the system wouldn't leave me hanging and give me some kind of gun mastery or something like that.

Thankfully this time the Game was on my side and after about two hours of me and Neo messing around with some simple pistols I finally gained a skill called "Firearm Mastery". It wasn't anything special as it just helped me with gun handling and accuracy, but it was enough to give me the required knowledge to use them.

From there I just showed Neo the ropes and after another hour or so, she could use a weak pistol quite nicely. It was scary how good the girl was with guns. If I didn't have the gamer system it would be her teaching me and wouldn't that be embarrassing.

"Alright Neo, now it is time for some target practice. Shoot me in my left hand," I finally said.

The girl looked at me like I was an idiot making me grin, "Oh don't look at me like that. We both know that a shitty weapon like that can't hurt me and I want to test the arm," I said while flexing my scaled arm.

Neo only sighed before she raised her gun and started shooting at my extended arm. She of course missed all of them apart from the one bullet that hit me in the torso. Thankfully I learned some time ago how to shield only some parts of my body with Aura so the projectile simply bounced off.

It took a few more tries for Neo to finally hit my arm and just like I expected the bullet did completely nothing. I smirked widely at the thought of how I would be able to use this arm to surprise my enemies if an occasion ever came by.

With my little test being successful, I told Neo to go and practice some more with other guns but to always keep her Aura up. Yeah, I might be slightly irresponsible, but Neo wasn't stupid or she wouldn't have survived that long. Again her mental state was completely another case. After all, she decided to live with a Grimm instead of humans.

Shaking my head in amusement I opened my skill menu and Grinned at the sight of my new skills.

After a short inspection of the skills, I suddenly yelped as a rain of bullets fell on the clearing with a few hitting me in the back. It definitely stung a bit and took a bit of my HP as I dropped my Aura shield before. How stupid of me…

I slowly turned around, my eyes twitching wildly as my sight fell upon Neo lying on the ground. Her face was set in a pout as she looked at the large assault rifle in her lap.

I sighed in exasperation, maybe my instructions were too vague.

"Neo!" I shouted to get the girl's attention, "When I said other weapons, I meant something your size!"

The girl sent a nasty glare at me, but it was ruined by the still visible pout. This girl… Why did I even take her in anyway?

* * *

"Oz, do you have a moment to talk?" Qrow's voice asked after Ozpin picked up the call.

"If it is something important then I can find a moment to spare," the headmaster replied as he sipped his coffee, "What happened Qrow, I didn't expect a call from you for at least another week or so."

Qrow's image on the screen ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "Yeah me neither. To be honest I thought that I would be back in Vale a few weeks ago after I found nothing about Merlot or the magical outbreak."

Ozpin frowned at the statement, "I thought that you were still searching after you requested more time. Especially when I told you about the second wave of magic I felt."

"I did," Qrow's tired voice quickly answered, "But like I told you earlier, I can't sense magic and with only a vague direction, I couldn't find anything."

The Headmaster's frown deepened, "Then I don't understand. What's with the delay?"

Ozpin knew that Qrow frequently delayed his return from missions, but he always told the headmaster the reason for the setback. This time the older man was sure that the male Branwen was just following another lead about the second magical outbreak that Ozpin barely felt about two weeks ago. To be told otherwise, confused the headmaster a lot.

"I happened upon something very intriguing and I just couldn't stop myself from investigating," Qrow began, "You see it only took me a few days with my abilities to search through the area you told me about. So after my failure, I stopped in the nearest village to rest before going back to Vale. Imagine my surprise when I heard the most unbelievable story in one of the inn's."

Ozpin palmed his face when he heard the mention of an inn. Normally something like that wouldn't cause such a reaction from the man, but this was Qrow and Ozpin already heard his fair share of the Branwen's stupid stories.

"Qrow, if this is another one of your idiotic jokes, then I will make sure that your next mission will be in Atlas. We both know how you feel about this place," Ozpin warned.

Qrow quickly waved his hands and chuckled lightly, "Nothing like that Oz... It is quite serious," to the older man's surprise Qrow's voice sobered during the last sentence.

Ozpin nodded and motioned him to continue, "Apparently the area around the village had a lot of problems with bandits in the last few months. They were mostly kidnapping children and women while killing the males if they had an opportunity. Unfortunately, due to some external and internal reasons, the village couldn't inform Vale of the problem and was left to fend for themselves... At least until a few weeks ago when suddenly all the kidnapped people just came back."

Ozpin furrowed his brow and asked, "Just like that?"

Qrow nodded, "Just like that... Of course, it was too interesting to be left alone so I went around and asked a few questions. No one really wanted to talk with me, but one woman told me that one day they suddenly heard the sound of fighting, and sometime after this the doors to their cages just opened. She also gave me the directions to the bandit camp," Ozpin then got a notification on his scroll and noticed that Qrow sent him some files, "Look at those Oz."

And he did.

The pictures of slaughtered bandits and half-destroyed camp greeted him. It wasn't an easy sight, but the ancient headmaster was already used to such things. Ozpin sighed and looked at each photo thoroughly, "They were killed by Grimm, not humans."

Qrow nodded, "I know, but the question is, if Grimm killed them, then why they left the prisoners? It just doesn't make sense."

Ozpin didn't know how to answer as Qrow was right that this situation didn't make any sense. Could there be someone else there that took care of the Grimm and then freed the prisoners? Or maybe it was Salem who was trying to distract Ozpin from whatever she was doing now. It certainly was working...

"Did you find anything else there?"

Qrow shook his head, "Apart from rotting corpses, not really. The place was completely looted, but that could have been anyone... I didn't really know what to do with this discovery so I decided to just visit a few more villages and maybe find more bandit camps."

"From your expression, I can say that you found something," Ozpin noted.

The Brawnen sighed deeply, "The other villages didn't have much to say, but I did find two more slaughtered camps. I don't know if those weren't just normal Grimm attacks, but there's something fishy going on here Oz. I found a lead to another camp yesterday so I am going to check it out before coming back to Vale. I doubt I will find anything, but it can't hurt to see. Oh and Oz, anything new on Merlot?"

Ozpin shook his head, "Not much. Apparently, he was spotted somewhere in Atlas, but it is nothing confirmed."

"Sneaky bastard," Qrow murmured, "Anyway Oz, I will be off. See you in a week."

"Good luck Qrow," Ozpin said before ending the connection and leaning back in his chair. This conversation only left Ozpin wearier and wearier. Something was going to happen soon and the headmaster doubted it would be anything good.

* * *

I grinned mentally as I pumped about half of my MP into my next attack. My jaw opened and the sound of thunder fell upon the bandit camp that became my next target. Lightning escaped my mouth and pulverized about half of the small camp. It definitely was a powerful ability and after overpowering it with more MP it was straight deadly.

The bandits never knew what happened as I along with Bob swept into the camp and began to tear apart everything we met on our way. Spikes flew in every direction ending the lives of those misfortunate to be in their path.

Bob ran around the camp in circles with his newly evolved wings, that cut in half every bandit he jumped on. I definitely wasn't regretting spending those three evolution points to give my subordinate better armor and attack power. It already came in handy a few times.

I roared again as a mass of bullets simply bounced off my scales before closing the distance between me and my assailants with a well-placed charge. The outcome was quite gruesome as each of them was completely crushed and blood splattered in every direction. Definitely not the best of my ideas...

There were a few brave - or rather stupid - souls that decided to run at me with knives or some makeshift melee weapons. They never reached me as I simply threw a few bolts of lightning that pierced their bodies, killing them instantly. Such was the fate of bandits that didn't have any protection or Aura. I simply loved how useful my new elemental affinity was, even though it drained my MP faster than anything else I could use.

It got better with a few levels and the boost to my max MP and regen after I reached the first milestones for intelligence and wisdom. Unfortunately, I was still far from using it constantly in a battle.

At least after it reached level ten it gave me the ability to combine my lighting with some of my skills. Lightning spikes were very deadly.

I shook my head as I slashed another idiot with my claws that decided to get close before looking around as complete silence fell upon the camp.

"That was it, huh?" Yes, it was, not that I should be surprised. Unlike most of the camps I raided, this one was smaller and no one even had Aura to defend themselves. This entire fight maybe took about two minutes.

It was terrifying how easily I went through the process of slaughtering camp after camp of humans. I knew that I shouldn't be so indifferent to this, but for some reason I was. Those people might have been monsters. But now I was just another monster fighting monsters.

I enjoyed the fighting, but the carnage I left behind didn't move me as much as it did after my first raid. I was changing, I knew that, but was it a good change? To kill everything that stood in my way?

I didn't know why I was changing so fast. Was it the gamer system or maybe my existence as a Grimm? I had no clue.

Deep inside I feared that I would lose myself to this process and become just another mindless beast flying around Remnant. I needed to somehow stop it, to find a way to escape it, but I didn't know how...

I chuckled bitterly and looked at Bob who just landed next to me, "Go and scout the perimeter. Kill any Grimm that will approach and inform me if you see anything other than Grimm."

I turned away from Bob before I realized that he didn't fly away. I groaned in frustration, "Oh for fucks sake, just fly around the camp."

Finally, the Grimm flew away and I was left with a camp full of bodies. This was probably the fourth camp I hit after evolving two weeks ago. I did it for a few reasons. Supplies for Neo and I, testing my abilities and just overall clearing those idiots that had camps in the territories near the mountains.

They also counted as temporary territories so I at least gained some nice rewards after clearing them. If I found any prisoners then I freed them, but this time I didn't always bother with leading them to villages as I had no clue where they lived. I was down to help sometimes, but I wouldn't go out of my way to save everyone. Well, I tried to help the kids, but mostly did that so I wouldn't feel guilty later on.

Overall those past few weeks were good if you ignore the shift in my personality. I got a bit stronger, leveled some skills, took care of Neo, and explored more of the map. Usually, the camps had some info about other bandits in the nearest vicinity so at least I didn't have any problems with finding them. From what I gathered this one was just a small outpost, but I hoped that it would still have some supplies.

As I walked around the camp collecting things I opened my notifications and almost stopped when I saw one of them.

**[Level 25 of Aura reached. Do you wish to unlock your Semblance?]**

_You are shitting me, right?! That was why it took me almost two weeks to get a single level in 'Aura'?!_

If so, then I forgive you everything Game. Now gimme my Semblance! I waited too long for it and I wanted it now.

**[Semblance menu has been added. Congratulations.]**

**[Semblance: Legion (Passive/Active) lvl: 1 (0%)**

**Your body is a weapon. You can now change some parts of your body into previously unlocked shapes. You won't gain a skill to measure your mastery with those weapons, but their use will be instinctual and get better with higher levels of 'Legion'. New weapons can be unlocked through different events or gaining more experience with your semblance. With enough power, your weapons can pierce any armor. Can be used in human form.**

**-Damage: Depends on the weapon, strength, and the level of Legion**

**-Cost: One time upon activation, depends on the form**

**Current forms:**

**-Claws: Updated version of your draconic claws. They are sharper, longer and stronger (Cost: 600 MP)]**

Wait, wait, wait!

I got some real Prototype vibes from this. I loved the series and this Semblance just solved my weapon problem.

 _Now I just need to see what it is capable of,_ I thought giddily, _Oh, Game, you don't even know how much I love you now._

With just a thought, I activated my Semblance and watched as the spikey end of my tail transformed into five sharp claws about two times longer than my draconic claws. I did a few test swings and was surprised that it didn't mess my control of the tail. Well, that answered the question if I could use it with my tail.

Next, I transformed into a human and did the same for both of my arms. Like the description said the claws on my left arm got sharper and longer, while my right arm got covered in scales and the same claws appeared instead of my fingers.

"Damn, I wonder if I'll get the blades later on," I whispered in awe as I observed my new claws. And here I feared that I would get a useless Semblance.

I chuckled loudly before dismissing the claws and going back to work. I still had some looting to do and from what I saw in one of the tents, a lot of papers to go through... I hated this part of my raids.

* * *

After some long and grueling flight, I finally reached my lovely cave. Mine and Neo's home changed a lot during those few weeks. For one the entrance was no longer massive, but just large enough to fit a human. It definitely made the cave more secure even if almost anyone could still walk straight through the entrance without a problem.

The inside on the other hand was looking a bit more homely or as homely as a large cave could be… The large amount of loot lying around definitely didn't help.

Those changes were only possible thanks to my experiments with dust. Somewhere along the line, I received a skill to absorb the energy in the dust crystals. In return, I could use the absorbed element for the next minute with about ten percent of my MP. A pretty useful skill, but very inconvenient to use in my Grimm form.

When I first gained the skill, I had the brilliant idea of upgrading our cave. After all, the earth dust could manipulate rocks, so why not the cave?

Yeah, I almost caved in our home after my first few tries. Not the best of my ideas… It just proved that even if I get a new skill, I shouldn't just rush into things.

Oh well, you learn something new every day.

All in all, when I finally gained average control of the skill, I made some changes to the cave. My young student was happy with what I had done, even if her reaction to my failed experiments wasn't… nice.

Unfortunately, it also led to Neo demanding from me to teach her how to use dust. The less said about those lessons, the better. I still shuddered at the image of Neo throwing around activated dust like a madwoman. And the girl had the gale to remind me that I almost destroyed our home when she wasn't better.

Now I was sure that it wasn't her time with Torchwick in canon that messed up her mind or maybe I just had the same effect on her...

Snorting quietly I looked around and was glad that Neo was already asleep. I simply sat on one of the chairs I looted from one of my raids and took out the documents I got from the last bandit camp.

It was a few hours later when I finally found something interesting and grinned at the single page in my hands. It spoke about a planned meeting between bandits from another camp that I destroyed a few days ago and a potential buyer for some goods. It didn't specify what goods, but I had a good idea about it, considering the amount of human trafficking in this region.

"A meeting you say eh? It would be such a shame if someone was to intercept it."


	11. Madman's plan

I awoke in my own tent and stretched out every kink in my body. I yawned and slowly got out of my new bed. You heard right, a bed. After months of sleeping on the rocky ground that left me sore and groggy -no thanks to you Gamer's body -, I rushed at the opportunity to sleep on something normal in my human form.

The bed wasn't anything you would find in a normal house. It was just a dusty, barely standing wooden piece of furniture. Good enough to let me forget about the world around me when I go to sleep and remember the times when I woke up in my old apartment. It let me feel like a human again.

Weird, I know. Nowadays I just took whatever small comforts I could.

Sighing, I sat on the bed and took out my personal Scroll from the inventory. Fiddling through the apps available on the electronic device, I finally clicked on the calendar. I grinned as the date appeared before my eyes.

_It's time. I have waited long enough for this meeting._

Almost three weeks. Bunch of time with nothing to do. Neo and training consumed a lot of time, but even the constant company of my little student couldn't save me from walking in circles in hopes that the clock would move faster.

Even then a smile stretched on my face as I thought about my time with Neo. The girl grew on me. I had no one to talk to when I arrived in this new world. Alone and transformed into one of the monsters. Before I took her in, I wasn't prepared for any human interactions, but now she was here. An annoying and somewhat crazy little brat that shined some light at my lonely existence.

Maybe that was the reason why she was still with me. Two months already passed and I dodged the subject of our agreement at every step. At this point, it was probably I who needed her more. Maybe I should ask her if she wanted to go back to civilization.

...

I snorted. As if. Silent whoops when she learned something new, wide smiles when I praised her for a job well done, or her snuggling next to me when I slept in my original body. Those actions showed me all I needed to know. Still, I planned to talk with her about a new agreement.

I stepped out of the tent and closed my eyes as the sunlight hit me right in the face. Add creating doors to the cave to my list to do. Getting blinded every day almost made me pull out my hair... or scales.

As my sight returned I took a survey of the rest of the cave.

Neo evidently woke up early today. She sat by the large campfire we created some time ago in one of the chairs with her legs swinging back and forth. Her face formed into an adorable pout as she tapped her fingers on her Scroll.

"Good morning Neo," She instantly whipped her head in my direction when my voice reached her ears. I gave her a small smile and nodded to the Scroll lying in her lap, "What got you working so hard?"

The girl hopped off her chair while her fingers danced across the screen, _"I am reading on something that could help us communicate. I just can't find anything relevant."_

My brow raised, "Oh? Show me then. I might be able to help."

Neo handed me the device and began to tap her foot on the rocky floor. I skimmed through the page that Neo opened and palmed my face when I read the last part.

"Sign language... Can't believe I forgot about it," I almost whispered. Unfortunately, my voice must have been loud enough for Neo to catch it.

The girl stepped forward and ripped the Scroll out of my hands. I almost averted my gaze again when the girl shot me a glare, _"You forgot? When you are living with a mute person for a few months?"_

In response, I took a few steps away from the fuming girl and laughed, "It happens you know? I didn't even think of trying to find another way for us to communicate. My bad."

She didn't answer. Her fists clenched and unclenched before she huffed and stomped away. I followed her movement back to the seat where she dropped down and crossed arms over her chest.

Yep, she was mad. Damn, now I would need to show her something new to slither back into her good graces again. Still, I needed to have a talk with her so I needed to defuse this bomb before it blew.

I slipped into the plastic chair across Neo and faked a cough, "Neo," she peered at me, the glare still preset. No matter, at least now I had her attention, "Even if I know about sign language, I have no clue how to use it. I promise we will search for instructions on how to learn it. I will even go to Vale if you really want to learn it so hard. Just let me take care of today's business."

Neo slowly dropped the glare and nodded. Great, one problem down, onto the next.

I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes, "As you said, it had been a few months already huh," I peeked with one eye and had to fight a smirk when I saw Neo froze, "Our agreement was for two months. No longer and yet here we are."

I finally opened my eyes fully and fought a grin when I noticed Neo who was fidgeting in her seat. This would never get old. Neo was just too easy to mess with. Sooner or later she would realize this but until then? _Fun is fun._

Shaking my head, I stood up and approached the girl. Neo most likely noticed my movement and stilled. Her wide eyes following my every step.

_That's enough._

Finally, I reached the girl and ruffled her hair, "Don't worry, I'm not going to send you away."

Neo looked up and stared at me with eyes even wider than before. Her mouth opened attempting to say something even if her disability wouldn't allow it. Still, she didn't need to as I understood perfectly what she wanted to say.

I crouched down and looked her straight in the eyes, "I'm not joking. If you want, you can stay here. You may be annoying, demanding little brat from time to time, but it wouldn't be the same without you here. Of course, some things will need to change if you stay and we wil-" Whatever I wanted to say, died in my throat by the small child that dropped from her chair and engulfed my abdomen with her arms.

A moment later her body began to shake. Knowing what was to come I returned the hug and chuckled silently, "So you want to stay with the big bad monster, eh?"

The shaking stopped and Neo began to shake her head up and down so fast that I feared it would fly away. With another chuckle, I picked the girl up -not the first time I carried her -, and placed her back in the chair.

I remained crouching in front of her as Neo wiped the tears from her eyes, "As I said earlier some things will need to change. Like your further training or normal education," she grimaced at the last part and I couldn't hold the snicker from escaping my mouth, "Yes normal education. We will discuss it more in-depth when I come back, but know that you won't escape it."

Seeing as Neo stopped her tears and slumped down in her chair, I stood up and approached the exit of the cave. Reaching into my inventory I pulled out a pure black cloak that took a lot of sweat and time from me to create.

With a swish, the soft material of the cloak landed over my human form. Almost my entire body disappeared from the view. My right arm stretched, the only limb not burdened by the new article of clothing.

I glanced at the exit before averting my gaze and sighing deeply, "Neo. I don't know perfectly what will happen today. No one does. I tell you this every time I go out for a longer time but remember. If I don't come back in a week, you're to go to the nearest village and then get a passage to Vale with the money I left you. I am confident you will be able to protect yourself if anything happens. See you soon brat."

* * *

**[New Quest Obtained]**

**Investigate the meeting. Find out who is the buyer and what they're planning.**

**Rewards: ?**

**Failure: The end of the World, Possible Death**

**This quest is mandatory and cannot be declined.**

If I was a human currently, my brows would have reached my hairline after reading this notification. To be honest, I expected some kind of quest to appear a bit earlier, but this was far from anything I thought I would get.

I felt it in my bones that this meeting would be more important than anything I've done in the past, but the end of the world? Either the Game was trying to prank me, or I just opened a can of worms that I should probably leave alone.

_Too late now._

I tucked my wings to my body and dived towards the earth. The ground began getting closer and closer. Two hundred feet, an almost draconic grin stretched across my face, or whatever the dragon equivalent was. One hundred and fifty, I relaxed my wings in preparation. One hundred, various scents assaulted my nostrils as the green forest got closer. Fifty and my wigs stretched again to their full width, stopping my fall and leveling my flight.

I fought the thunderous roar that wanted to escape my jaws. I might be a big ass dragon, but there was no need to alert the entire forest of my presence. Still, flying would never get old. The freedom provided by this simple action never failed to make my heart hammer in my chest.

I shook my head lightly and cast my gaze at the green scenery below me. My other senses followed and soon I knew everything about those lands. Almost no Grimm, animals running through the trees or resting near the small river, and most importantly, no human presence.

My wings flapped a few times and my movement slowed considerably. A small clearing greeted my sight and I very slowly lowered myself onto one of the tree's branches.

I winced as the tree screamed in protest and instantly leapt to the ground. Right, I wasn't a dog-sized dragon anymore. I already missed those times when I could land anywhere I wanted without fear of destroying anything.

_Oh well, at least now I'm powerful_ , I thought as I scanned the familiar empty clearing.

The sun was still right above my head so I had a few more hours before the meeting was supposed to take place here. My form began shrinking, and my wings disappeared. Nowadays my stealth was much better in my human body. Not a surprise considering my very quickly growing dragon body.

I sighed and ran a hand through my weird hair, "Guess now I wait... Bob should reach this place in an hour or two so I might as well take a nap."

Shrugging, I laid down against the bark of a tree behind some bushes and closed my eyes. With "Stealth" and "Presence masking" active, I was pretty much invisible to anyone without some pretty good tracking tech or skills.

* * *

I rolled and hugged the tree as the sound of engines hit my ears. A quick check of the time showed me that it was high time for the meeting to start. From what I gathered Bob already arrived here and was resting in the canopy of a tree about a mile away from here. If I encountered a problem, he would fly here as fast as he could.

The huge, metallic form of a Bullhead slowly descended upon the clearing. The wildlife definitely didn't appreciate the foreign sounds. Almost every animal scurried away as far as they could and soon my senses managed to identify only myself, Bob, and the new arrivals in the clearing.

Where the hell did they manage to get a Bullhead, I had no clue. This little mission was getting more and more interesting.

The aircraft finally touched the ground, engines turning off. I peeked from my cover and observed as the side doors of the Bullhead slid open and a ramp extended from it to the ground.

The sound of chattering followed and soon two, tall humans stepped on the ramp. Their loud voices were easy to hear, "I fucking knew that those bastards would be late," the black-haired one complained.

The second man swatted his companion in the back of his head, "Shut your trap, Robin. At least we got out from the shitty base," the man shivered slightly, "Those scientists there are mad!"

Robin snorted as he settled down at the base of the ramp, "Don't need to tell me that. If it wasn't for the pay Merlot is providing. I would be in Atlas right now."

_Merlot! That's why the quest is more important than I thought it would be. Maybe now I'll be able to find out what exactly is so special about this guy._

Of course, the thoughts of why the man needed to trade with bandits were also running through my head. What did he need human slaves for? This whole situation made me frustrated at the lack of information... At least now I could get some answers. That was the quest's objective after all.

**Robin, Thug lvl: 5**

**HP: 100**

**MP: 350 (locked)**

**Tier: E-**

**Additional Info: Pilot and weapon handling training, Aura locked, Paid mercenary for the mad scientist Merlot, No special abilities**

_Right, nothing special about him._

The second guy wasn't any different. Nick was his name, and he only had weapons training. Not even a challenge if I wanted to take them down. Two bolts of lightning should do the job... Not that I wanted to kill them of course. Patience was the key here.

Slowly the sun began to disappear on the horizon and I had troubles standing in the same place for too long. I had enough of listening to those two idiots talk about their plans after the job or complain about how they were wasting time here.

No shit sherlock, you _were_ wasting time! The bandits were fucking dead! Killed by yours truly.

There were times when I almost stepped out of my hiding spot and tried to scare the thugs away. Maybe then they would leave faster... Oh well, a Grimm could only hope.

Darkness fell upon the forest, but my senses remained sharp. Thankfully, I didn't need to wait any longer as both Robin and Nick returned to the Bullhead, and soon the jet engines lit up the whole clearing.

My form shifted and I flexed my wings. Time to fly.

_Bob, follow after me but remain unseen._

The acknowledgment of my command passed through our link. I nodded, flapping my wings while my four limbs performed a mighty leap that immediately carried me over the trees where I continued my flight.

I kept a safe distance between me and the Bullhead. Two hundred feet should be enough. I had no clue what detection or defense systems the aircraft had while in the air. I definitely had no need to test them now. I had faith in my armor and aura, but this wasn't the place for overconfidence.

My wings and the wind carried me at speeds high enough to keep up with the machine. I fought the urge to accelerate and pass the Bullhead. To show I was the only king in the sky here.

_Not now._

Small sigh escaped my jaws as the adrenaline left me. Moments like that happened more often than I was happy to admit. Just another effect of my ever-changing life.

Leveling my flight to the same altitude as the aircraft, I scanned my map from time to time. The border of a new territory approached quickly, and it was one I never visited before.

**[Entering Major territory nr. 5]**

**[Number 5: Deserts of Vale**

**-Defeat powerful Elder Grimm (0/1)**

**-Clear Merlot's base (0/1)**

**-Exterminate Grimm (0/50)]**

_Huh. Now that's a territory..._

Another base of Merlot's. Whoever the scientist was, he really liked to have a few of them. Not good. I might be out of my depth here. I grew powerful since the last time I was near one of those bases, but this guy seemed very organized if he had so many bases.

A silent growl left my mouth. _No backing out now. Besides, the quest won't allow me._

Spotting the Bullhead lowering its altitude, I began to slow down and circle the area where it was landing. I surveyed the area below me, trying to spot the base before the aircraft reached it.

Dunes of sand filled my vision with the rare rocky hills growing from the ground to break up the scenery.

Nothing to the left, nothing to the right. I glanced at the Bullhead, and then at the direction it was headed in. My eyes squinted.

_There!_

The small glint of light caught my attention as it reflected from the small steel doors hidden between two rocky hills. They almost completely blended in with the environment, so it wasn't a surprise that I almost missed them.

Sneaky bastards. Merlot sure knew how to hide his base. Not that it had a chance to hide from me.

Tucking my wings, I shot like an arrow towards the rocks. My four normal libs extended, ready to land at the moment's notice. When the high rocks were a few inches away from me, my claws dug deep into the terrain, instantly killing my momentum.

I held the groan that wanted to escape me when my muscle stretched to their absolute limits. _Right. Not landing like that ever again if I don't need to._

My entire form hugged the rocky cliff and I blended into the darkness of the night. I craned my neck and observed the space below me. The Bullhead already landed before the doors that were slowly rising up.

Damn, that was a thick ass door. No way any of my skills would pierce this. Maybe in a month or two, but for now I was only getting used to my new abilities.

My form shimmered again as I began to slide down the cliff. My clawed left arm the only way to break the fall. As I neared the edge, I finally acted and pushed my legs.

I flew through the air in the direction of the opposite rocky wall. I tapped into my Aura and my arms began to change. Strong scales filled my skin and long, sharp claws grew instead of fingers.

_Don't fuck this up now!_

Again my claws dig into the horizontal rocky wall, but this time I was falling much faster. Just as I wanted. Hours of training with my new form and skills definitely paid off.

Adrenaline again filled my being as I saw the door closing. I had a few more seconds before they shut completely and any hopes of a surprise attack would disappear.

Halfway through the fall, my legs pushed off the wall, and this time I was falling right towards the closing doors.

Performing a quick roll, I dashed forward as the sound of steel hitting the ground filled my ears. I spun around, my claws at the ready as I pushed them into the unprotected backs of the two mercenaries that just arrived here.

Blood slid down my claws as the two turned slowly to face me. Their eyes wide and mouths open in a silent scream. Fortunately or unfortunately for them, their deaths were — mostly — quick as my tail whipped forward, piercing them right through their hearts in quick succession.

I shook my head and opened my inventory, "You should have stayed in Atlas instead of following a slaver," I murmured as their bodies entered my private storage.

Almost unnecessary deaths if you asked me. And the ease with which I still ended their life almost made my stomach turn. Almost…

_Don't think about it now. Focus on the task at hand._

I looked back at the closed doors and frowned. Finding a place to open it manually was going to be a pain in the ass, I knew it. _Bob scout the area. Try to find another entrance. If you fail go back and guard the Bullhead._

With the command sent I closed the link between us. If Bob understood me then great, if not? Well, I would cross that bridge when I came to it.

_Now, let's descend into the maw of a Lion,_ I grinned at the concrete stairs leading deep underground.

* * *

You never know what you had until you lose it. In my case, it was the incessant idiocy of Bob, which in hindsight, had provided me an odd sort of comfort. Well that and Neo, but the girl was completely another case.

Don't get me wrong, Bob was a Moron, capital M, but his loyalty was the real deal. Whenever he wasn't bumping into trees, or smashing his head into the ground via divebomb, he always tried his best to follow orders or be there for me. Hell, the recent evolution even improved his almost non-existent intelligence.

I sort of missed that now. Bob was on the surface, thick steel doors separating us.

It was during the serious moments like these where the tension really ramped up that you realized you really needed some comic relief, AKA Bob.

I sighed, and continued down the dark, eerily lit hallway. A very long hallway that appeared after I finished my descent. Who designed this shitty place?

I shook my head. I was getting lost in my thoughts, that wasn't good. I had to stay vigilant at all times, I couldn't afford to slip up now, not after how far I've come. And taking into consideration that the only sound reaching my ears were my footsteps I definitely should focus.

My senses stretched to the max as they tried to pinpoint every other sound and smell in this location in an attempt to locate the danger before it located me. My nose picked up scents that wouldn't register with even the keenest of dog Faunus, and my ears were like a beacon, bouncing back sound waves to my ears and helping to make out the general area surrounding me in a mental map.

More light hit my sensitive eyes and I squinted a bit. Finally rooms.

Medical.

Armory.

Library.

Avian research.

Security.

And finally, the data room.

_Jackpot._

I slowly squeaked the door open, the noise echoing loudly in my ears, giving me plenty of noise to make an even bigger mental map of the room I was currently stepping into.

A large computer lay at the center, the monitor covered in blood, the scientist operating it still sitting on the chair, dead.

And lying around the room, were dead bodies. More than I'd care to count. Most slashed to pieces.

I grimaced, walking up to it. I breathed through my mouth as I rolled the chair with the body away, making sure to not get the wheels caught in the entrails, while silently cursing my acute senses.

I almost covered my nose as the smell of rot and decay hit me when I stared at the dead bodies. Whoever did this was quick and unnecessarily brutal. I shook my head at the sight. Yes, I killed a lot of humans, but all my kills were quick and mostly painless. I definitely never had the desire to butcher dead bodies any further.

_Why are you even dead? Those two I killed worked here... or maybe they were from another base and didn't know what happened here. No, after all someone opened the doors for them,_ My fist tightened, _It just doesn't make sense._

I crouched down and studied the body's injuries while trying to ignore the sick feeling in my stomach. In times like those, I regretted asking the Game to make my Gamer's mind a bit weaker. Unfortunately, I needed this if I didn't want to become an emotionless monster and it was one of my few ideas on how to stop the change.

I frowned and focused back on the injuries. Clean cuts, most likely made by some kind of blade or very sharp claws. Grimm could do that, but no, those mindless creatures wouldn't leave the body. Besides this room was too small to fit a Grimm that could do this.

_Then who or what?_

I stood up and approached the computer again.

_Maybe you will have some answers._

My fingers danced over the keyboard. File after file I scanned their contents. The sickness in my stomach only got worse and worse with each new thing I saw. At least now I knew who Merlot was. Sick bastard.

I gulped as my gaze landed on the next folder.

Laboratory tests.

Subject number 012

I played the footage.

"Subject 012 of the Greenblood virus has shown multiple severe symptoms in reaction to the latest strain." In the background, a little girl was thrashing against her restraints and screaming as if to pierce the heavens, to which Merlot simply rolled his eyes. "Overdramatic one, that." He zoomed the camera in on the subject. "As you can see, she is coming along quite nicely. Her fangs and claws are coming in, and she is beginning to smell fear." The video showed the girl, her veins and irises an unnatural green, growling and snarling like an animal.

The video went on. The plan, essentially, was for Merlot to spread a virus, one that mutated humans into a Grimm-human hybrid and release them into a major population center. The infection could be transmitted through the scratch of a claw or the puncture of a tooth. At least it couldn't get through Aura.

Basically, zombie Grimm. Merlot wanted to transform humans and Faunus into zombie Grimm that were faster, stronger, and "superior" in his mind to humanity. They had zero impulse control and feasted on the living with the same ferocity that actual Grimm did. And Merlot wanted an army of these fuckers.

And he wanted to begin that army, in Atlas. After all, if you wanted to cripple any chance of finding a cure, you destroyed the most advanced nation in the world.

_Fuck._

I opened my map. Shit, that was a long flight from here. I needed to copy these files and destroy this place after getting everything important. Plan later, act now.

'Ping"

_Yeah, yeah. I know._

* * *

...

I finally finished copying the files. The hope was that someone in Atlas would be capable of reverse-engineering the formula and manufacturing a cure. Because at this point, I think Merlot may have already begun preparing to release the virus. I had a day or two at max to get there and try to help with this shit. No one literally no one apart from Merlot would be happy if the virus spread all over the world.

Hell, even Grimm would lose their purpose.

The other rooms didn't have anything important apart from some weapons and dust I could use later. Unfortunately, before I could escape there was one more place I needed to check, a corridor that led even deeper.

I cut the connection between a spare Scroll and the computer and put the small device back into my inventory. Taking a last glance around the room I sighed and closed the door.

"This will be your graveyard," I whispered walking down the hall, "I hope you will find peace in your next life. Even after all that you have done here."

My human hand extended and a small ball of lightning began to spark over it. My night vision was perfect, but I wanted to have an attack ready, just in case. Beside this corridor was even darker than the rest of the base.

My pace quickened as my gaze landed on the opening to a larger space before me. I walked in and took a look around the room.

It was a huge circular hall that extended serval feet in every direction. The ceiling was high enough for me to transform into dragon form and move freely, but I wouldn't be flying here anytime soon.

_Something's wrong_ , I thought as my gaze and other senses swept over the mostly metal room.

I flinched as the sound of steel hitting steel reached me. Turning around I noticed with wide eyes that the entrance doors were closed.

My heart began to hammer in my chest.

_No, no, no._

Like a switch was flipped, lamps began to activate, filling the previously dark hall with light. Finally, a large screen was ejected from the far wall and when I saw the person on the screen my blood froze.

"Merlot," I growled.

"It is nice to meet you too little dragon," the madman's sick voice filled the room, "I have been waiting for this moment for a few weeks. Now, we will have some fun together!"

_Shit!_

* * *

**Bonus Scenes:**

He watched the curious Grimm/human hybrid as it dragged its fingers across the panel. It swapped between files, it's red eyes flickering back and forth with startling intelligence.

"What a curious thing." He stroked his beard.

But curiosity was good, he could use that.

His plan, after all, was to cause chaos. And the plan was to stir the pot. To add in as much to the concoction, to oversaturate it so much that it would just... combust.

And an intelligent dragon Grimm that could use the aura that his sensors detected? That was plenty chaotic, so of course, he would add it into the mixture as well. How lucky he was to spot the dragon during one of its raids.

"Now, what will you do? Show me. Impress upon me your might, those who have waged this shadow war for millennia. Show me what you are capable of, the depth of your experience so that I may prove to you how shallow it is in comparison to the genius, the superiority, of Merlot!"

* * *

In his cave, the two Faunus prepared their men for the coming mission

"Finally we will show Ghira that diplomacy isn't the answer to our problems. And then we will take the White Fang away from him."

"I still think that trusting a human is a bad idea."

"My brother, we aren't trusting him. We are using the trash, to fight the trash."

* * *

In Atlas, the general prepares for war.

"Specialist, we have... Well, I think you'd best see for yourself."

"Are those... Zombies?"

"They're Merlot's new toys, is what they are. We already have our best people on the ground trying to contain this. I'm giving you the important mission of getting your hands on Merlot and dragging his sorry ass down here. We need a cure and we need it now Specialist! We can't let this thing spread, get on it."

"Consider it done, sir."

* * *

In his tower, the wizard decides to finally break the stalemate.

"Qrow, I need you at this location, James says it's important."

"Jimmy coming to us for help for once? What a surprise. So, what's got him so riled up he decided to swallow his pride and come asking for it?"

"Zombies."

"What?"

"Zombies, Qrow. Don't think too much about it. You're with Glynda, meet up at this location. You'll be pairing with a new Specialist as well. Expect heavy resistance Qrow, Merlot knows we're coming."

"Merlot and a newbie eh? Heh, alright then, sounds like a party, I'm in."

* * *

In her castle, the queen begins her plans for domination.

"Tyrian, dear. Make yourself useful and bring me my pet. I believe I've waited long enough for the doctor. He'll be in Atlas, that seems to be where he is staging his plan."

"Of course! At once my queen!"

"Oh, and make sure to stop his little plan. It wouldn't do for humanity to face extinction before I can even reveal myself."

"Eh?"

"You heard the queen! Don't 'eh?' me! Move your ass! Our destination is Atlas!"


End file.
